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| TABLE OF CONTENTS 


COVER by Dennis Tyfus 

Page 6 — Krang by King Merinuk 

Page 7 — Paul Williams interview by Robert Dayton/ 
Illustrations by Julian Lawrence, Owen Sherwood, 
Plastic Crimewave and David Benmussa 

P. 14- Punk’nhead by Jake Austen 

P. 16 - La Donna Tittle Interview by Jake Austen 

P. 24 — Nardwuar versus Afrika Bambaataa 

P. 28 - Gumballhead by Rob Syers 

P. 29 - Chuck Dukowski interview by Jake Austen 

P. 30 - Johnny Cash by Gary Pig Gold/illustrations by 

Owen Sherwood and Sheryl Shroeder 

i P. 32 — Studio One/Heartbeat by Jason $hithead Mitchell 

P. 38 - Jazz Fest by Jake Austen 

P. 40 - Wang Dang by Wheez Van Klaw 

P. 41 - Rockin’ Ace by Slink Moss 

P. 42 - Voivod by Brian Cremins 

P. 44 - Hall of Dynamic Greatness by Derek Erdman 

P. 45 - Zombre by Ans 

P. 50 - Updates 

P. 52 - Syd Barrett by Gentleman John Battles 

P. 55 - Funkarelics by Pedro Bell 

P. 60 - Joe-Briath by Jonathan Poletti 

P. 63 - Illustration by William McCurtin 

P. 64 — Final Curtain by Gentleman John Battles 

p. 74 —IHustration by William McCurtin 

P. 75 - NYC & Me by Mary Scura/IIlustration by Stevie Clarke 

P. 76 - April March interview by Jean-Emmanuel Dubois 

P. 77 — Bertrand Burgalat interview by Jean-Emmanuel Dubois 

P. 78 — Walter Trout interview by Ken Burke 

P. 84 — Mecca Normal interview by Robert Dayton 

P, 89 - Waymon Reviews/IIlustrations by Peter O. Zielein, 

Owen Sherwood, Slink Moss, King Velveeda, 

William McCurtin, Charrette, Mike Goetz 


A GIFT FOR 
ROCTOBER 
READERS: 


TO HEAR THIS ISSUE’S 
SECRET SOUNDTRACK 
MP3 ALBUM Go TO 
www.roctober/secret43.html 
AND CHECK OUT TOP 
SECRET MP3s OF SOME OF 


THE MUSICAL ARTISTS 
FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE! 









AN EXCLUSIVE FOR YOU — 
THE VALUED 


- ROCTOBER READER! 


ROCTOBER #43/FALL 2006 


1507 E. 53®” ST. #617 CHICAGO, IL 60615 


WWW.ROCTOBER.COM 


e-mail: info@roctober.com 


EDITOR: JAKE AUSTEN/ONLINE EDITOR: BEN 
EDMONDS/CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: GENTLEMAN 
JOHN BATTLES, KEN BURKE, JAMES PORTER 
My least favorite thing in zine history is the cliché intro 
where the editor apologizes for the issue being late, so I'll 
just pretend this issue wasn’t scheduled for four months 
ago and move on. Enjoy this new Roctober, it’s got some 
awesome stuff in it by some very talented contributors, 
and as a reward for your patience we’ve hidden some 
incredible mp3s on the “internet” featuring music by 

artists featured in this issue, info below. Peace out! 





coolest people to say 


“fuck” on Saturday Night Free music: www.themajestictwelve.com - 


Live. Classic comedy: www.hellodere.com 
Prince me http://www. youtube.com/watch ?v=RVK VNS430gY 
John Brannon (Negative http://hitlercats.motime.com/ 

Approach) 


http://www.mothersagainstnoise.org/ 


Morris Day (The Time) 
pia <http://www.dinosaurgardens.com/> 


Ad Rock (Beastie Boys) 
Serj Tankian (System of 
a Down) 


lamest people to say A 
“fuck” on SNL ee go 
Charles Rocket to get a subscription 


Norm McDonald 
Michael Stipe (REM) 
Steven Tyler (Acrosmith) 
Paul Shaffer (shoulda 
been in cool column, but 
it’s not ‘name 6°) 
five other people who 
are supposed to have said 
“fuck” on SNLe... 
Janet Jackson (I saw this 
episode and missed her 
saying it, but apparently it 
happened) 
Paul Westerberg 
(Replacements) (This is 
supposed to have 
occurred, but | missed it.) 
Lee Ving (Fear) (seen 
this a zillion times, don't 
think he cussed.) 
Tony Danza - (In a skit 
where the joke was that he 
almost says “Fuckin” 
dozens of times he 
definitely did not actually 
say it, though some folks 
say he did.) 
Eddie Vedder (Pearl 
Jam) (Lamely censored 
3 the f-bomb out of a lyric.) 


Elst yt ait heed 
ir Cee  ) 
/ Lege 
eis VO Te fe 
TT iste 14 


dustygroove!comt | 


Maca t) 


Malti 
on LP 

and CD— 
SE 
eT 
selection 
etn 
jazz, Latin, 
Leta 
Bute] 


Pa) 
titles. 














ny 


I've seen a new ad on TV for Chips Ahoy cookies. It's done in Claymation, and a 
mixed group of punk rock kids with mohawks are going down the street with a 
big cookie that has a face, arms and legs. They are excitedly singing (in hardcore 
english style): "Punky Chips Ahoy--OI OI OI!! Punky Chips Ahoy--Ol OI OI!!!" 
when an English Bobbie (actually a chimp dressed as a cop, with a posh accent) 
stops them and informs them that it's actually CHUNKY Chips Ahoy, not 
"punky". He then proclaims them a bunch of loonies, Best commercial of the year 
so far! | saw this during Live with Regis & Kelly, no doubt the target audience 
for this particular ad, 

- Scott Cornish 

Read the most recent Roctober- great issue (as always)! I really enjoyed the 
article about professional athletes attempting to make music. But you guys forgot 
to mention one! The Texas-based, 3-man wrestling tag team The Fabulous 
Freebirds cut a single in 1984 called "Badstreet USA" (as Michael Hayes and the 
Fabulous Freebirds). At the time, I remember seeing an ad for it in a wrestling 
magazine but didn't order a copy unfortunately. The clips I saw at the time on 
Georgia Wrestling with Gordon Solie were super cheesy- Michael Hayes, who 
sang on the record, envisioned himself a some sex symbol a la David Lee Roth or 
something and the music was bad 80's crap. The other two members of the three- 
man tag team stood around in the video either trying to play guitar or tryirfg to 
looking tough. The actual musicians in the video looked like session musician 
tossers Here's a link to a@* place that has a 
copy: http://www. wrestletapes.net/bestofthefreebirdsS.html 

- Tony Azu-Popow 

This may come as a surprise to those of you not living in Las Vegas & Reno, but 
there are more Catholic churches than casinos. Not surprisingly, some 
worshippers at Sunday services will give casino chips rather than cash when the 
basket is passed. Since they get chips from many different casinos, the churches 
have devised a method to collect the offerings. The churches send all their 
collected chips to a nearby Franciscan monastery for sorting and then the chips 
are taken to the casinos of origin and cashed in. 

This is done by the chip monks 

~ Christopher Inniss 

Just wanted to write and let you know how impressed I was with the article "Ha, 
Ha, Very Funny: Hundreds of Celebrity Records." It was fabulous! You pulled 
out all the stops with Phylicia Allen (remember seeing that one before the Cosby 
Show and scratching my chin), Lisa Whelchel, Vincent Gallo, Crispin "Hellion" 
Glover, Jeff Bridges, Dustin Diamond, Maya Angelou etc. You dug deep and I 
appreciated the insights. The comment on Cheryl Ladd - "...you don't get hired 
for your looks to do vocals for a cartoon band." is a classic. Is there a sequel in 
the making? I mean, what with albums by Terry Bradshaw, Richard 
Chamberlain, Joey Bishop, not to mention my personal fave; the one by the actor 
with Down's Syndrome from TV's "Life Goes On" Chris Burke, collecting dust 
somewhere. The guy who played the jock on that show (Tommy Puett) had a 
minor teenybopper hit (very, very minor) with his cover of Exile's "Kiss You All 
Over" on his own one-off album as well. I would like to clarify aon John 
Schneider's singing career though; he did NOT peak early in his recording career 
with his take on Elvis' "Now Or Never." Quite to the contrary. “I'ts Now Or 
Never" was his first ever album, although he had recorded one single in the mid 
‘70s for a small label, this was the beginning of his country career. After "It's 
Now Or Never" he landed no fewer than four number one country hits 
and nine top tens on the country charts (the charts he was aiming for) through the 
better part of the '80s. He even had a number one album. Not bad for an actor or 
anyone for that matter, He quit.recording largely because he didn't like to tour, 
but quit on his own accord. Even after a few hits under his belt, country radio did 
not except a much more than Bo Duke" the singer. His record company even sent 
out one his songs in the "guess who this is guise" with no name on it. People 
thought it was George Strait and even after it was revealed who it was, the song 


became his first number one. He has since sang in a Tony Award winning 
musical, as well as other Broadway and Off Broadway shows, and most recently 
at The Kennedy Center Honors. Tom Wopat who was not nearly as successful on 
the charts as a singer, starred opposite Bernadette Peters in Broadway's “Annie 
Get Your Gun," and | think he may have replaced Mac Davis in "Will Rogers's 
Follies," though I'm not for sure. Not bad for hayseeds, er...actors portraying 
hayseeds. Thanks again for your wonderful publication - | read more from one 
copy of it than I do a half dozen of anything else, except of course with Kicks! 

P.S. The Gary Pig Gold article was a mind blow - loved it! 

~ Dave Candland 

I sent an E-Mail mentioning I re-read Roctober #38. It finally invoked the 
memory of another episode of “Quincy, M.E." which has not received as much 
attention, but which I feel deserves re-examination. 

At the domicile here, for over ten years, my television set did not receive 
channel 7. [O.K. - I'll have to reverse here to the letter of January 2004 {in #38} 
when I mentioned what Tim Weigel was reading on the night of his sports report 
of 12 July 1979 from Comiskey Park. | was out that evening at a meeting of 
Chicago “L"-riders Organized to Upgrade Transit (C.L.O.U.T.), a transit 
advocacy group spawned from the preservation group Friends of the "L*. 
C.L.O.U.T. met on the second Thursday of each month; FOL met on the fourth 
Thursday. The C.L.O.U.T. meeting was at a restaurant in the basement of Marina 
City. I did not know what was occurring at Comiskey Park until I arrived back 
home just after 10 pm, and my mom told me, "There was a riot at Sox Park". So 1 
walked into the kitchen, where her television set was, and it was tuned to channel 
7.] So most of my TV viewing experiences involved shows on other 
channelsinetworks. "Quincy, M.E.", being on channel 5, was one of the shows | 
viewed, (I finally earned enough money to buy a [3-inch Goldstar color TV set, 
which received channel 7, and which I had to carry back here on the #76 & #54 
buses from the 'grand opening’ K-Mart at the Brickyard shopping center in early 
1980.) 

lam certain that the “punk rock” episode of "Quincy, M.E." would never have 
been lensed if not for the phenomenal response to an episode "Quincy, M.E." 
showed in its 1979-80 season (or maybe it was 1980-81, in which case, it was 
televised before February 1981). It was the “Richard Pryor” episode! Anita 
Gillette was in the series as Quincy's love interest by this time. She invited 
Quincy to a coffeehouse where one of her favorite singerisohgwriters was 
performing. The artist was played by Roger Miller. 

Jack Klugman attends the show with Anita Gillette. She is visibly entranced by 
him; but Quincy is morally shocked & outraged at R. Miller's {1 cannot 
remember his character's name.} songs, which are laced with references to drugs 
and double entendrés; including one composition titled "It's Snowing In Miami", 
When the show ends, we get to glimpse backstage. R. Miller is obviously about 
to do some drugs [The off-duty police officer performing security turns his back 
so as to not observe what will happen!]. Somehow, R. Miller manages to freebase 
something which sets his face on fire! He runs out of the dressing room into a 
hallway where A. Gillette was hoping to get a word with him, and her screams 
alert Quincy, who (of course) knows how to immediately treat someone whose 
face is on fire. 

In a subsequent scene back at the hospital, Dr. Astin tries to revive a despondent 
Quincy by telling him he is a hero for saving R. Miller's life. Quincy's rapid retort 


is "Some kind of hero." - which was the title of the then-current Richard Pryor 
movie in release from MCAlUniversal |the producers of "Quincy, M.E."}. 


Quincy's mission for this episode is to "call out" musicians and performers who 
glamorize or excuse the use of illicit drugs in their songs, performances, or 
personal lifestyles. He does not want to view any more corpses in his morgue 
who wound up there by consuming drugs. 

This episode resonated across the demographics of the viewers of "Quincy, 
M.E.", and it probably appealed to those even younger than myself. The show got 
the audience to which the producers wanted to expand, albeit for the wrong 
reason [but they did not realize that]. This was the foundation for green-lighting 
the “punk rock” episode of "Quincy, M.E." 

Most sincerely yours, 

- Steve “Pudgy” De Rose 


BUT... WHAT'S 
AHEAD _OF US 
15 EVEN 











SWAN SONG 


irs PAUL WILLIAMS! 





Paul Williams is a giant amongst songwriters. In the 1970s he 
composed a truckload of some of the most beloved pop tunes in 
history, including “The Rainbow Connection,” “We've Only Just 
Begun,” “Just An Old Fashioned Love Song,” “Rainy Days and 
Mondays,” and countless others. But unlike his faceless 
songwriting brethren, Williams became highly recognizable over 
the years, as his amazing, bizarre, multi-faceted career (which has 
seen him clock in as a jockey, a jokewriter, and the best simian in 
the worst Planet of the Apes movie) made him a TV and movie 
staple for years. While he never found much success with his band 
Holy Mackeral or as a solo recording artist, and though he never 
made it as a leading man (his star vehicle sitcom The Paul 
Williams Show barely lasted one episode), Williams’ magnetic 
screen presence made allowed him to guest star in countless TV 
shows, make cameos in numerous films, and guest star, and an 
incredible comic run as Little Enos, partner to Pat McCormick's 
Big Enos, in the Smokey and the Bandit films. His hops Hollywood 
soundstages and songwriter's piano stool became shorter when he 
began composing for movies and TV, resulting in the music for the 
Barbi Benton fake rock band sitcom Sugar Time!, the brilliantly 
bad tunes Beatty and Hoffman perform in Ishtar (1 still contend 
that if they never left their piano bench to go to Ishtar that movie 
would have been a smash), and the theme songs for such timeless 
classics as Love Boat, Boy in the Plastic Bubble and the Streisand 
version of A Star is Born. The latter earned his a composer Oscar, 
but the Academy Award he truly deserved was for his starring role 
in Brian De Palma’s 1974 rock opera Phantom of the Paradise. 








Williams was fortunate to be where he was at a time when movie 
musicals were once again being produced, and certainly his most 
beloved score was for The Muppet Movie (and his most bizarre 
was for the all-child gangster musical Bugsy Malone). But myself, 
and countless Canadians and Parisians (a box office flop in the 
U.S., it somehow played to packed houses for 62 weeks in 
Winnipeg, and enjoyed a similar run in Paris, France) are 
devotees of his scoring/starring turn in the glam-esque, Faustian 
epic in which he plays the evil Swan. In the film Swan takes the 
girl, the soul, and consequently, the face (which gets disfigured in 
a vinyl record press) of a gifted songwriter, and uses his music to 
further turn the world into a decadent hellhole, where swishy 
rockers in KISS makeup are killed onstage for the audience's 
pleasure. Needless to say the flick is a lost gem in the States, but 
because it is so appreciated North of the border, we sent our 
Canuck cub reporter Robert Dayton to track down Williams in 
advance of his appearance at (of course) Phantompalooza 2006 (a 
Canadian Phantom of the Paradise festival). Having spent the 
bulk of the Me Decade yapping it up on the game show/Tonight 
Show/Fantasy Island circuit, it's no surprise that Williams is a 
great interview subject, but many of the revelations about his 
collaborations with DePalma, Felix Unger, Tiny Tim, Batman, and 
Kermit the Frog are actually quite revealing and insightful, far 
from the slick, packaged answers one might expect from a jaded 
showbiz veteran. Ultimately, despite being a somewhat kitschy 
onscreen icon of a plastic era, the true Paul Williams is revealed 
here to be the artist who labored in solitude, away from the 
spotlight, on countless pop masterpieces. 
ROCTOBER: Swan? 
PAUL WILLIAM: Ha ha, you've found him, ha ha ha. 
I have some songs that I’d like to show you.... 

(laughter then composure) 
1 am a fan and I am a fan of some of the people you have 
collaborated with. For example, Biff Rose... 
Biff was one of my first collaborations ever. The first person I 
found I could write words to somebody else’s music. We wrote a 
song called “Fill Your Heart” which was the B Side to “Tip-Toe 
rhrough The Tulips” for Tiny Tim. The great moment was finding 
that it had been recorded by David Bowie. It was the first song that 
David ever recorded that he didn’t write. 
So Tiny Tim’s version came before Bowie’s. 
I think David told me that he got it off of Tiny's record 
I love that Tiny Tim album. 
It was a great album, wasn’t it? 
And you’d worked with Richard Perry, the producer of “God 
Bless Tiny Tim” with your group The Holy Mackerel, right? 
That was actually after. I'd met Richard through Tiny. They were 
looking for songs for Tiny. The head of publishing at A & M 
played some songs for Richard and he liked “Fill Your Heart” very 
much. He was kind of fascinated by my writing and my voice. He 
said to me, “How’d you like to record?” The idea terrified me so I 
said, “Let me put a group together.” I basically put The Holy 
Mackerel together to record for Reprise. I think the group broke up 
before the album had been released. They picked me up as a solo 
artist and that was kind of the beginnings of stuff for me. An out of 
work actor finds a home in music. Once again ‘no’ is a gift in my 
life. If 1 don’t get something that I think that I have to have I 
usually get something that is better that I really need. 
So Tiny Tim sort of kick started it? 
My first two recordings were released the same day. One of them 
was “Fill Your Heart” by Tiny Tim and the other one was “It’s 














Hard To Say Goodbye” by Claudine Longet. I remember thinking, 
“Tiny Tim and Claudine Longet. What kind of a writer are you?” 
These opposite ends of the spectrum of recording styles. I still ask 
myself that question every now and then. 

The lyrics have a late 60s vibe but it also sounds like another 
Tiny Tim number from the 20s. 

Thank you...I think. If ever there was a song written by two 
hippies “Fill Your Heart” is a song written by two hippies, that 
would probably be a fair and accurate description of Biff Rose and 
I then and probably on some level now of me, I’m not sure what 
Biff Rose is like these days. 

He’s got his own website and he seems to march to the beat of 
his own drum. (Editor: zap to www. biffrose.com - a must visit, as 
it contains Biff’s brilliant poetry, philosophy, Hitler comedy, and 
an mp3 of the Tonight Show appearance that got him blacklisted 
Jrom Johnny's couch) 

He’s a unique individual Biff is. 

His albums have been reissued recently. 

Do you know his song “Molly's Letter”? That is up at the top of 
my ‘wish I wrote’ list. It’s one of the most stunningly beautiful 
pieces of music, it’s like literature, it’s beyond just a pop song, it’s 
an amazing short story and so touching. “Son in Moon” would be 
another one that I just go, “Oh my God!” Just a wonderful, 
wonderful song. , 

I'd like to ask you for crazy stories about Tiny Tim. 

I remember Tiny buying cases of baby food. He was living on 
baby food, like vanilla pudding. Richard said he would open up 
and smell one jar of baby food, decide it wasn’t good, that it was 
contaminated, and throw the entire case out. I could never get him 
to call me Paul, it was always, “Ohhhh, Mr, Williams!” 

Your song “We’ve Only Just Begun” was originally a bank 
jingle. 

It had all the romantic beginnings of a bank commercial. Roger 
Nichols and I were approached by Crocker Bank to show a young 
couple getting married, riding off into the sunset, it was gonna say 
“You've got a long way to go, we'd like to help you get there, The 
Crocker Bank.” They didn’t want a sales pitch, they wanted a 
pretty little love song over this wedding scene. In a sense it was 
like a little video. Roger and I wrote the first two verses for the 
commercial and finished it as a song because that’s what we did. 
We thought it might be an album cut or something, it certainly 
wasn't going to be a hit record. The number one album, I think, 





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in the country at that time was “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” so “We've 
Only Just Begun” was not going to be a hit. Then an angel sang it 
and changed our lives. 

You collaborated with The Carpenters for quite a while. 

They cut a bunch of our songs. We wrote from about '67 to maybe 
"73 or so. 

How did you feel about the heavy rock? 

I love all kinds of music, One of the great things about Phantom Of 
The Paradise is it allowed me to satirize a bunch of different styles 
of music that I really loved that I wasn’t associated with, I was a 
huge Beach Boys fan so “Carburetors” was a natural. The stuff I 
was writing with Roger was very Middle Of the Road, we were 
getting the Jack Jones cuts. My favorite bands at that time were 
The Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, of course The 
Beatles, the original Delaney and Bonnie and Friends was I 
thought the best rock ‘n’ roll band I ever heard in my life, I was a 
big Leon Russell fan. I was 27 when I first started writing songs. 
When Phantom came along it was a great opportunity to combine 
two loves: my love of film and my love of music. 

You also satirized yourself with the song “Faust” by turning it 
into “Carburetors.” 

Absolutely. At one point Brian De Palma had talked about me 
playing the character of Winslow and becoming The Phantom, this 
creepy little guy in the rafters of the theatre. I never thought I 
would be frightening as The Phantom. | also didn’t want people to 
see me playing somebody whose music was stolen. | was more 
comfortable playing the thief, stealing my own music, so nobody 
would think I had a hidden agenda against the music business. 

I see all the different characters in Phantom as being molded 
on certain people. I see Winslow as being Randy Newman-ish. 
I'm not sure what he (De Palma) had in mind. I know he always 
said that for the Swan character it was Phil Spector. There was a 
definite similarity. 


8 








Would you have known if Spector had seen the movie? 

I don’t have a clue. I met him during the A & M years just to say 
hello. 

I also see Beef as being like Jobriath. 

In a way we kind of invented the whole glam rock thing. 

To me it is the greatest glam rock musical of all time. It’s an 
amazing marriage of your music and De Palma’s film making. 
It’s a high point for me. There aren’t very many times in your 
career when you really feel that you're given a great creative 
freedom to just roll but also something just as archetypelly juicy as 
Phantom was. Writing songs around a story that is essentially 
about the devil, all the Faustian themes, there was a wealth of 
material to write about. Also the music business that takes itself 
sometimes so seriously was really ripe for a good poking. 

It’s so darkly funny and larger than life. Were you listening to 
any glam rock? Glam rock would often satirize and pastiche 
musical genres. 

No, I don’t think that I even knew that what I was creating was 
glam rock. It was just kick ass rock ‘n’ roll and heavy guitar work. 
I tried to take it as far away from Winslow’s delicate presentation 
of the tunes, When I listen “Life At Last” or “Somebody Super 
Like You” I’m really proud of it, it’s a pretty good rock ‘n’ roll 
record. 

And I don’t think The Rolling Stones (who De Palma originally 
wanted) would have done it as well as that, so... 

Robert, you’re in my will! 

Well, the songs had to be diverse with different characters and 
voices to work with. 

1 often used improvisational actors. Archie Hahn was a writer for 
The Groundlings. I used Archie in Phantom Of The Paradise then 
turned right around a couple of years later and used him as the 
voice for Bugsy Malone. He was really a flexible actor who could 
do a lot of different things. Jeffrey Comanor was one of The Juicy 
Fruits, he was a crazy songwriter buddy of mine for A & M 
Records. He had a great album called “A Legend In His Own 
Room, A Rumor In His Own Time.” 

I was wondering about some of those names on the soundtrack. 
Craig Doerge I recognized as having played in the group 
Rosebud. 

Craig was a member of The Section, which was James Taylor's 
back up band. In the 60s it was The Wrecking Crew, the heir 
apparent to the Wrecking Crew was The Section. Craig's never 
forgiven me because I gave him a lyric that he wrote a melody to 
and we went out and had a hit record with it for Bobby Sherman. 
He said, “I've got a hit record ...with Bobby Sherman.” He wasn’t 
a big Bobby Sherman fan I don’t think. 

Was he part of the ultra hip Laurel Canyon scene? 

He was exactly that. Joni Mitchell, JD Souther, Jackson Brown. If 
you look at my “Life Goes On” album alot of those names are in 
there singing background on my album. I was around those guys 
but I was also writing for anybody and everybody and with 
anybody and everybody. 

So, you really wouldn’t say no? What was your criteria for 
working with a singer? 

I wouldn’t work with a singer. I'd shel with somebody else and 
I'd write a song and then the publishing company- I'd write a song 
that was just perfect for a kick ass rock ‘n’ roll group and the 
publishing company would send it to The Harmonicats and they'd 
record it! The interesting thing about the time of my career as a 
songwriter, as a contract writer at A & M records, is | was writing 
so much material that it was being sent to everybody. It was kind 


9 





of like throwing it up against the wall and it'd stick where it would 
stick. But it was also the time where I caught the back end of some 
amazing careers. So all of a sudden I’ve got stuff being cut by Ella 
Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley 
and David Bowie. You're looking at a career for me as a 
songwriter that got hot during the third act of some amazing 
careers that began back in the 40s but also some amazing careers 
that were just getting started. Consequently I can write a song like 
“Rainbow Connection” that Kermit The Frog sings in 1979 and in 
2005 Willie Nelson sings it. It’s a great accident of the ages that I 
was born when I was and started writing when I did that | caught 
so many amazing careers. 

With “Rainbow Connection” I.read in your bio that you said it 
was the greatest song you’ve ever written. 

I don’t think I said it was the greatest. I might have said that it was 
my favorite. I think there’s an element of hope and I think there’s 
an appreciation of mystery in the song. I romanticized my 
collaboration with the Henson clan. Jim Henson was an amazing 
man. I’ve had some unpleasant collaborative experiences in film 
and otherwise but I'd have to say the best ones that have offered 
the most creative freedom with people that would play at their 
music and their movies, that had great focus and great drive but 
never got that fever to control you. We literally sat down with 
Jerry Juhl, Jim Henson, myself, and Kenny Ascher and a bunch of 
guys in a room. It was kind of like, “What're we gonna write about 
for The Muppet Movie? What're we gonna do? Why don’t we do a 
road movie? Okay. Like how they all get together. We'll start in 
the swamp. Who comes along? How about an agent in a rowboat? 
Wow! What a great idea! Dom Deluise.” And that’s how it played 
out. It was just such fun. I love Gonzo. Gonzo’s my favorite 
Muppet. I think he’s a landlocked bird. I think in a lot of ways, we 
as people are these weird little birds that are longing to go back to 
the sky on some level. There’s a scene in the movie as we were 
writing it where they break down in the desert. I said to Jim, 
“They're sitting around a campfire, there’s all these amazing stars 
in the heavens. Why don’t we have Gonzo sing about this longing 
to go back.” And Jim took it literally, “Why don’t we let him 
experience flight during the earlier part of the film?” And he wrote 
this entire fairground scene just so that Gonzo could buy a bunch 
of helium balloons for Camilla, his chicken girlfriend, he buys too 
many and he goes floating off into space. They shoot the balloons 
one at a time to bring him back to earth safely but he loved it while 
everybody's so scared for him. So in that scene he’s looking at the 
heavens and he’s singing about “I’m going to go back there 
someday” with a philosophical overtone about life, when life ends 
do we go back there some day? The amazing thing is when Jim 
died they sang “I’m Going to Go Back there Someday” at his 
funeral. It was like full circle. I don’t know. It’s just really special 
to me. “Rainbow Connection” and “I’m Going To Go Back There 
Some day” are both favorites. I have other kinds of songs that are 
favorites. 

I didn’t know The Muppet Movie was written around the songs. 
The first thing Jim Henson and I did together was an HBO special 
called Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas. 

Now from that special there’s the dark sounds of The River 
Bottom Nightmare Band... 

Once again a chance to play some kick ass rock ‘n’ roll. 

Now do you think a song like “The Hell Of It” from Phantom 
would be too mean spirited for even bad Muppets like The 
River Bottom Nightmare Band? 


Well, I’m not sure. I’ve been writing a bit with this group called 
The Scissor Sisters and they are a band I would not have any 
difficulty showing that song to and saying, “You know what? You 
should cut this.” Do you know the story of that song in the movie? 
It was for a scene that got cut. 

It is one sour sour nasty song. And it closes the whole movie! 
Paul Williams (quoting his lyrics): “Good for nothing, bad in bed, 
nobody likes you, you're better off dead, good bye...” I'll tell you 
what it was originally written for. After Beef was killed there was 
supposed to be a funeral scene where you see this snowy graveyard 
with a casket over the open grave and these people around in a 
circle singing about Beef. While they’re singing the song “The 
Hell Of It” you follow through all these microphones and cables 
back into a hearse. In the hearse was Swan recording the funeral 
live on the Death label. 

I can just picture the De Palma tracking shot. 

What I wanted to do was a very kind of Fellini-esque thing of 
everybody in a big circle, “Dun dun dun dun da dun, dun dun dun 
dun dun da dun...” Very circus-y. And a little girl, whose mother 
is a stage mother who brought her, she runs in as they’re lowering 
the casket into the grave, she jumps on it and begins tap dancing to 
audition for Swan, I don’t know if we ran out of money or if we 
tried to find a snowy graveyard and couldn't find one...It was 
Brian's idea to just grab the song and cut to the end credits before 
that. 

What were the working methods with you and De Palma? 
Originally it was Phantom Of The Fillmore and he wanted to use 
Sha Na Na as the group in the opening. We just started working. 
As we wrote the whole Faustian theme really developed more and 
more throughout the whole piece. To me the heart of the movie is 
in one great line: “An assassination live on coast to coast 
television...that’s entertainment!” There’s the whole thing where 
these kids have seen so much theatrical violence in the show with 
The Undead that when they see someone murdered onstage they 
think it’s part of the show. They cannot tell the difference between 
what is entertainment and what is real. It’s 1973 when we're 
shooting this, so it’s from the 60s where people are eating their TV 
dinners watching the war news from Vietnam. We've begun to 
slide into that place where the dividing line between reality and 
entertainment and fantasy has begun to diminish. It’s a fairly 
accurate prophecy of where we are today. As Brian points out on 
the French DVD with all the reality shows people are literally 
living their lives on camera as Swan was. 

It’s so crazy seeing people talk about the most shameful things 
they’ve done on camera, or that they’ll snitch on a family 
member just to be on TV. 

Tomorrow I'll be sixteen years sober. It’s my sober birthday. 
When I was newly sober I went to U.C.L.A. and I got my 
certificate as a drug and alcohol counselor. I got very active and 
remain very active in recovery. I remember flying back to New 
York because Geraldo wanted to do a thing on heroin use and 
recovery. He asked me if I’d come in and share in my story, not 
that I’m a heroin addict, I’m an alcoholic and a recovering cocaine 
addict. But for me to come back because I’m a counselor and he 
thought it’d be good television and that I could share some of my 
experience, strength, and hope and that we could help reduce the 
stigma of the disease a little bit. I went back and the next thing I 
know while we’re shooting the show they're doing a remote to 
somebody in rehab, | won't say whose name it was, it was a 
famous son of an actor. When they cut to the commercial I went 
over to Geraldo and said, “You can’t do this. This is somebody 


10 


who’s trying to save their life right now.” We never cut back to 
that person in rehab. It’s amazing that that’s where we’re going, as 
you say, the most horrific personal inside material as far as the 
networks or as far as the production people are concerned, that’s 
good television. 

Phantom is so layered with its’ commentary and it is also very 
self referential in that it starts with a character writing music 
about Faust then the whole thing becomes a Faustian bargain. 
And let’s not forget the well-choreographed split screen 
explosion sequence. That’s why I am very curious about your’s 
and De Palma’s working methods. 

I think that in any picture that is a true musical, and Phantom Of 
The Paradise is really a musical, the process has to really be 
collaborative. You don’t write a finished script and say, “Here’s 
where the songs are going to go.” When I got on board there was a 
finished script but it was very different from what we wound up 
with. 

How much say did you have with the singers? Such as Jessica 
Harper... 

I was involved in the casting of Jessica. The song that I had 
everyone sing for the auditioning of Phoenix was, “Long ago and 
oh so far away, I fell in love with you before the second show...” 
Was the audition process like it was in the movie with Swan? 
No, darn it. I remember walking up behind Jessica and she was 
singing to herself and she was wonderful. We went inside for her 
to sing for Brian and I and she sang out, “Long ago!” in a very 
different quality. I said, “No no, sing it to yourself again” and 
Brian just looked at me and went, “Yeah” and she was wonderful. 
What about Ray Kennedy, the voice of Beef? Who is Ray 
Kennedy? 

Paul Ray Kennedy is a singer-songwriter. I actually wrote and 
recorded “Life At Last” before we had this cast and loved Ray’s 
voice and thought, “That’s it. That’s the perfect voice for Beef.” 
The one thing I might do a little different, I’ve since apologized to 
Garrett because when Garrett sings it in the shower scene he 
sounds pretty good and he definitely could have done it but I was 
really knocked out by Ray’s voice and that was it, there was 
nothing to discuss. 

You’re going to Winnipeg at the end of the month, right? 

Paul Yeah, we're going to do Phantompalooza. 

Phantom was extremely popular in Winnipeg, Manitoba and 
Paris, France! What’s the deal? 

Because the cities are so much alike. It’s very bizarre, isn’t it? 

It ran for 62 weeks straight in Winnipeg! 

And it did the same kind of thing in Paris. And I couldn’t even 
begin to tell you why. 

And people have latched on to the movie more now. 

The picture was not a hit in the United States. People thought it 
was a horror film, they thought it was a concert film. They weren’t 
sure. But the intensity of the fans for this picture has just been 
wonderful. 

I see this movie as being done as a stage show. 

Paul It almost happened then it fell apart. It’s one of those things 
where I hope one day it will actually happen. 

So there’s stuff written for a stage show version? 

At one point I wrote some additional material but I think if we did 
it as a stage show we'd start at letter A again. I’d certainly use all 
of the stuff that’s in the picture but I'd add to it. I'd love to see that 


happen. 








Rocky Horror started out as a stage show. It became a movie in 
1975, a year after Phantom. Is there any connection between 
the two? 

The only connection is that years later Tim Curry and I were both 
voice over actors on the Batman animated series. He was the voice 
of The Joker and I was The Penguin. Then he went on to do 
something else and he was replaced by Mark Hamill as The Joker. 
So midnite shows would do double features of Phantom and Rocky 
Horror. When they made a DVD about those people who are 
addicted to The Rocky Horror Picture Show they asked me to 
narrate it, which I did. 

Did you have a type of voice in mind when you did the voice of 
The Penguin? 

I just used me at my most arrogant. “You flying rodent!” 

Kind of like Swan? 

Swan is The Penguin with better hair. 

Your first movie role was when you were a kid in The Loved 
One. Do you have any stories about that? 

It was my very first movie so | was walking around like a kid in a 
candy store. | followed Jonathan Winters around like a puppy. 

I have just a few more questions. I won’t keep you too long. 
We've been at it at it a little more than an hour. Although, Robert, 
we are talking about my favorite subject: me. 

I am in a song and dance duo called Canned Hamm and one of 
our inspirations, well, I should tell you our names- Big Hamm 
and Little Hamm, I’m Little Hamm, and we’ve worn matching 
denim outfits. 

Ahhh perfect. Sounds like there's a little bit of Smokey And the 
Bandit in there, 

Well, when I was about eleven I remember you and Pat 
McCormick were on a talk show in your Little Enos and Big 
Enos denim outfits and you were saying that you were going to 
do those characters a lot more. 


We did. Glen Larson and I wrote an ABC Movie Of the Week 





called Rooster which was about two insurance investigators and 
and there was a pilot for a series. The movie aired but the pilot 
never made it on the air. We played those characters in two or 
three episodes of The Fall Guy and three Smokey And the Bandit 
movies. 
How could I ever see Rooster? 
Good luck. If you find it, send it to me. Somewhere in storage I’ve 
got Rooster. 
Pat McCormick must have been fun to work with. 
He was an amazing friend, a really, really bright guy, and a great 
character. He was one of a kind. 
Do you have one story about him? 
Yeah. Our first conscious memory was coming out of a bar 
together across from NBC. We'd been in the bar all night and I 
don’t think he’d ever seen me off of a bar stool before. He came 
towering over me and he looked down at me and he said, “You 
know what you look like? You look like an aerial photograph of a 
human being.” Any mind that would think like that you'd just have 
to love it. So he said, “You know, you're going to have to help me 
find my car, I don’t know where I put it.” I said, “Okay, what kind 
of a car is it?” He says, “Oh no. That would be cheating.” Just a 
funny, funny guy, really quick mind. I think Burt saw the two of us 
at the craft service table for The Tonight Show one time and went, 
“Those guys are funny together.” To make three movies with 
Jackie Gleason... alot of times I've said that those movies were a 
vacation to make and a job to watch. 
They’re just movies to get with some people and have a laugh. 
They're pure Americana. 
A friend of mine has been looking for years for the Ishtar 
movie soundtrack and he can’t find it. 
It was never released. 
But it says at the end of the movie, “Soundtrack available...” 

I know. And at the end of the movie you were supposed to hear 





fully produced rock ‘n’ roll tracks of those songs with great musicians but 
Warren as producer and the entire Columbia team has never allowed it to 
be released because they were overwhelmed by the negative response to 
the picture. At least that’s how I remember things playing out. Be great to 
get it out now...I think ‘Chuck and Lyle’ (Warren Beatty and Dustin 
Hoffman's characters) deserve their shot...even if it’s twenty years 
overdue. 
Those are great songs! 
If somebody loves those songs, if they mention /shrar, it’s a guarantee that 
they are a songwriter or a musician because they get it, they get the humor. 
They are great songs that are supposed to be bad songs but are 
actually great songs. 
It would be very easy to write obviously bad songs but to write believable 
bad songs where they actually sound like they actually were trying to be 
good was the hard part and that’s what I had a great time doing. 
How much say did you have in The Odd Couple TV episode where you 
played yourself? 
I did what I was asked to do. The only thing was Garry (Marshall, the 
show’s producer/director) said, “I want you to write a song at the end that 
Felix writes for his daughter. Take that note and write a song around that.” 
They kept changing the end of the story and never got around to writing 
the note so they gave me the note the morning of the shoot. I wrote that 
song that morning. One of the great moments of my life was sitting on the 
foot of my bed one day watching television. My daughter walked in the 
room, she was seventeen or eighteen at the time, she says, “What are you 
watching, Dad?” I said, “Oh my God, come here” and she sat with me and 
we watched that song play and that scene. It was an amazing experience 

* You were all over TV. Just switch the channel and you’d be there. I 
don’t know how you did it. 
I became a lot better at showing off than showing up. In a way I think 
celebrity becomes an addiction in a certain sense. I think my career as a 
writer was greatly impacted by me running off to do The Gong Show 
instead of paying attention to the opportunity I'd been given to write. We 
learn by doing in life so I’ve learned and I've changed in a lot of ways and 
I’m a real grateful man for the life I’ve been given. 


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YOUR TITTLE IN THE MIDDLE 


cago Reader (www.chicagoreader.com) earlier this year. Google it 
Is Roctober readers love. Cooking foto by Marty Perez 





By Jake Austen (NOTE: A much better version wit h professional editing appeared in the Chi 
(I think you have to pay to get a copy), I’m printing this over-wordy because it adds tons of little detail 








From 1973 to 1989 local deejay La Donna Tittle was at the apex 
of Chicago radio, She was #1 in her time slot, was showered 
with awards, and when she emceed local funk and R&B 
concerts, tens of thousands of fans roared whenever she took the & 
stage. Though today she is playing on a smaller stage, Tittle is 
just as busy as she was during her heyday. Her commitment to 
independent media has her working on college radio at WKKC 
and producing a public access television show. Her commitment 
to the community has her teaching and mentoring elementary, 
high school, and college students. And after forty years of 
voice-overs, TV commercials, local plays, and tiny movie parts, 
she has committed herself to putting acting, her first love, on the 
front burner. 

As a thespian, Tittle has suffered through several 
ultimately-false breakout moments, including a memorable turn 
in the 1997 horror film The Relic and a guest role on the 1999 
CBS cop show Turks. But she finally feels she has taken the 
role that could catapult her to the acting career she’s always 
dreamed of. And that role is a one-minute, non-speaking cameo 
in an R. Kelly video 

In the singer’s melodramatic, multi-part R&B operetta, 
“Trapped in the Closet,” Tittle plays Rosie the Nosy Neighbor, 
a spatula-wielding old woman whose brief appearance is one of 
the comic highlights of the Grammy-nominated series of music 
videos, Though her role is smaller than those of most of her co 
stars, Tittle commands the screen during his brief appearance, 
mugging and gesticulating like a silent film actor as Kelly (who 
sings all the actors’ lines) conveys her bravery in the face of 
neighborhood chaos. 

“There are a lot of milestones in a life like mine.” Tittle, 
“But Rosie the Nosy Neighbor is the greatest thing 
yet... because of the potential!” 


The set of La Donna Tittle’s cable access cooking show 
is the kitchen of her South Share condominium. By a real estate 
agent’s standards these are certainly comfortable cooking 
quarters, but jam-packed with Tittle, a guest, a cameraman, and a 
lighting rig, it appears cramped, adding to the intimacy and 
immediacy of the show. Since 2001 Tittle has been a producer at 
CAN-TV, (Chicago’s cable access network) creating The La 
Donna Tittle TV/Radio Show. Early productions drew on her 
connections to musicians and entertainers, and stood out from 
other access fare only because of her professional presence. She 
began to garner more attention in 2003, when she debuted 
Cookin’ Wit’ Tittle (channel 19 Thursday at 7pm, with a re-run 
on Friday at 2pm), where she prepares soul food, either from her 
family recipes, or from the repertoires of her guests (who have 
included colleagues, her sister, and even her agent), whose 
conversations often stray to matters beyond the gastronomical. 

As she jokes around, explains the social history of the 
dishes, and addresses African-American health issues, Tittle 
creates an atmosphere far different than the culinary 
programming on PBS or Food Network. Tittle’s show features 











visceral, sometimes sensual approach to cooking. 
Instead of just seeing the aesthetic beauty of the food the show 
emphasizes the physical attributes of the ingredients (due in part 
to the intimate, over-the-shoulder shots necessitated by using her 
real stove), encourages the viewer to smell the food (she boasts 
of being the first person to demonstrate on TV how to clean the 
notoriously malodorous chitterlings and hog maws), and even 
conveys the heat of the kitchen (due in part to La Donna often 
showing a lot of skin under her apron). 

“La Donna’s show is a great fit for public access, not 
only because it offers her a creative outlet she wouldn’t have on 
commercial television,” offers Ronda Peck, a traffic coordinator 
at CAN-TV (who was recently a guest on the show, preparing 
peach and apple cobbler), “but also because it is really about the 
community. She has local people come on and share their ideas 
and recipes, and she makes everyone feel like they are part of 
one big family. When you watch the show you feel like this is 
my sister, this is my friend. And that’s not because she is a 
celebrity whose voice we know, it’s because of her personality.” 





La Donna Theresa Tittle was born at Michael Reese 
Hospital in 1942, She describes her late father as “a 
longshoreman, bartender, hustler, and hornplayer,” who 
demanded excellence from his children, and was ready to exact 
punishment not only for failings in schoolwork and housework, 
but also for performing poorly in his favorite game, chess. Her 
mother managed various businesses, including a bar and a record 


store, McKee’s Bop Shop on 47" Street and South Park Way 
(now Martin Luther King Drive). Tittle recalls being a young girl 
watching I Al Benson and McKee Fitzhugh do remote 
broadcasts in the store window; if they were running late, her 
mother would jump on the air herself to spin records. Growing 
up La Donna was charged with tending to her four younger 
siblings, and she picked up odd jobs as well. At one of them, 
working behind the candy counter at the Regal, she fell in love 
with the R & B music she saw performed onstage. 

“Seeing those shows was like watching Christmas,” she 
says. “The lights and the music just surrounded you. I would see 
artists like Jackie Wilson, Big Maybelle, the Blue Notes before 
they were Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes-they were so 
handsome. We would try to get their attention, but they knew 
we were just little girls. I always had music around me because 
my father played horn. When he was a bartender at the Brass 





Rail under the 47" Street el tracks, | would be in the office 
while my mother was doing the books, and I would see guys 
like Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons come in and play with my 
father. It was a wonderful time.”The family bounced between 
Bronzeville and Hyde Park homes, as Urban Renewal (“we 
called it Urban Removal”) displaced them as the University of 
Chicago expanded. 

Tittle’s early years are a Bronzeville history primer, as her 
life lessons were learned at some of black Chicago’s most 
important places and from some of its most iconic figures. As a 
young child she attended the open casket funeral of lynching 
victim Emmett Till (“it was so terrifying that I still have a thing 
about visiting graves”), she spent her early days hanging out in 
the shadow of the Regal Theater, helping run the cash register 
and keeping the money straight at her father’s pool hall (“my 
father didn’t take no shit, you worked your ass off, you kept 
things together...maybe that’s why I’m such a slob today”). 
After her parents separated in the early 1960s she joined her 


mother and siblings as one of the first families to move into the 
Robert Taylor housing projects where she witnessed the gradual 
decline of the living conditions (“that’s why I don’t like high 
rises today...”). As a teenager she witnessed the slow decline of 
the projects-vandalized elevators, dangerous incinerator chutes, 
gang activity-taking refuge in the projects’ rec centers, where 
some of the key movers in Chicago's black arts movement were 
teaching. Drama instructor Okoro Harold Johnson, later the 
cofounder of the ETA Creative Arts Foundation, gave Tittle her 
first acting role, and soon she began studying with Johnson and 
ETA’s other cofounder, Abena Joan Brown, at Stateway 
Gardens. Through them Tittle met other luminaries, including 
AACM cofounder Phil Cohran, jack-of-all-trades Oscar Brown 
Jr., and ballet dancer Donald Griffith. 








Miss La Donna Tittle, 4525 
Federal st., was chosen Miss 
Greater Fort Dearborn 
Lodge No. 444 last Sunday at 
the Elks lodge, 322 E. 43d at. 
She will represent the lodge 
in Illinois- Wisconsin State 
association meeting this 
week-end to compete for 
finals in Miami in August. 


17 








“I met Harold Johnson, who is now Okoro Harold 
Johnson,” recalls Tittle, “and Abena Joan Brown who ‘was Joan 
Brown then, at the Park District's Robert Taylor’s Fireman 
House and Stateway Gardens rec centers. Okoro was taking the 
place of one of the absent teachers, while I was there playing 
ping pong. He was teaching a drama class and gave an 
assignment, the play ‘Dial M for Murder.’ I got the role as the 
wife who was being killed, with strangulation, and stabbing, and 
that’s how I got turned on to theater.” Other Park District 
instructors who coached Tittle in the performing arts were Phil 
Cohran, Jean Pace, and Oscar Brown, Jr. (who featured her in an 
educational film called “A Gig for Gab,” which is still shown to 
prisoners re-entering society). Tittle was soon working with 
Johnson and Abena Joan Brown at the Harris YWCA in the 
formative years of ETA, their historic south side theater 
company. Years later, when ETA moved into its permanent 
home on South Chicago Avenue in 1979, their first production 
was “A Change Is Gonna Come,” a drama about Sam Cooke, 
with Tittle playing the major role of Elisa Boyer the woman 
Cooke was with on the night of his death. 

“When I first met her as a sixteen year old La Donna 
Tittle was very serious about learning her craft,” recalls Abena 
Joan Brown. “She literally invented herself. She identified what 
she wanted to do, and she set about doing the work it would take 
to master her craft. She is quite a personality, but the reason she 
was successful is because of how she worked to develop her skill 
and artistry. She is one of my favorite people.” 








» 


IT’S LOVE 
Lovely Chicago model La Donna Tittle 
takes charge of a 1968 Dodge Charger, one 
of Chrysler Corporation’s complete line of 
new models to be previewed in Chicago 
Angust 30, to September 3, by more than 
300 newsmen from 40 states. The 1968 


Charger Is completely restyled and includes 
numerous optional and standard safety 
features, The Charger and other Chrysler 
Corporation passenger cars will have their 
public Introductions in dealer showrooms 
on September 14, 








With Griffithfs encouragement, Tittle registered with a 
talent agency as a model after she graduated from Dunbar 
Vocational high school, and she soon found work on runways 
and acting in plays, industrial films, and commercials. “Back 
then being a model was not just modeling,” she says. “That was 
the term they used, but you had to be multitalented to keep 
working. I was doing voiceovers for McDonaldis, runway 
modeling at Marshall Fields, photo bookings. I was in the New 
York Times after modeling at “market week” in New York. My 
first television commercial was a national one for Purex bleach. 
This business compels you to expand. But I never knew I was 
destined to do radio. I had no idea, even when I used to see my 


mother doing it.” 

In the mid-60s, while she was attending Loop Junior 
College, her husband, Ronald Horton, introduced her to the man 
who would spark her radio career. “My husband and I loved 


dancing, and weid go to a social club on 48" and Wabash called 
the Times Square,” she says. “Ronald introduced me to the DJ at 
the dances, Herb Kent, and he was the one who told me I had a 
good voice for radio.” 

“I was her first teacher,” recalls Kent. “She would come 
over to my office and I would teach her. She wanted to get into 
the right profession, she was born with the voice, and was very 
personable, and she was just a gorgeous woman. I often 
wondered how someone who looked like that could live in the 
projects.” 

Horton was eager to have children when he and Tittle 
married in 1966, but she wasn’t. (“Twelve babies are not coming 
out of me!” she recalls telling him.) Horton volunteered for 
Army service, preferring the two-year stint to the four-year one 
draftees had to serve; in 1969, shortly after returning from 
Vietnam, he was killed in a car wreck at Fort Hood, Texas. 

Her husband's death left her devastated, but she continued 
as a student, graduating from Chicago State University in 1971 
with a degree in art education and theater. She had also earned a 
certificate from a broadcasting trade school, and she parlayed a 
gig reading PSAs on an AM jazz station, WBEE, into a full-time 
on-air job after she graduated; in 1973 she jumped to WBMX, an 
FM R.& B station that was becoming the predominant black 
station in Chicago. At first she read news and worked overnight 
slots, but after a year she moved to weekday afternoons; her 
presence on the mike, combined with WBMX’s rising stature, 
made her the number-one midday radio DJ in Chicago. 

She'd wrested the title from her mentor Herb Kent, who in 
the 1960s had been a key part of WVON’s legendary Good 
Guys, one of the most influential groups of black deejays in radio 
history. After WVON owner Leonard Chess died in 1969 the 
station’s fortunes began to decline, but until Tittle challenged 
him Kent was still ruling his roost. “I got clobbered, and I wasn’t 
too happy,” laments the legendary deejay. “Having someone | 
trained beat me like that was like being shot with my own gun.” 

Though Kent’s training was certainly helpful, what made 
La Donna Tittle’s radio success inevitable was that voice. Her 
deep, husky timbre was seductive and intrfguing, yet despite a 
vocal tone that suggested mystery, her style was casual and 
playful. “She’s has a smile when she talks, and you can hear it,” 
notes Virgil Hemphill, a longtime colleague of Tittle who teaches 
at Kennedy-King College’s Broadcasting and Theater 
department, “She simply had the perfect female announcers 
voice.” One striking thing about Tittle’s radio presence in the 70s 
and 80s was that even though she sounded sexy and young, there 
was also something comforting, cozy, and wise in her low, 
melodic voice, suggesting that despite her age she was an old 
soul. These qualities, combined with dynamic energy that 
matched the funky music she was spinning, and original 
segments like “Mama T,” where her mother would call in to offer 
advice and comment on current events (Tom Joyner’s character 
Miss Leonard seems to have been modeled on these calls) 
allowed her to win her timeslot for her entire reign at BMX, and 
eventually opened the door for her move to WJPC. 

In 1978 WJPC’s owner John H. Johnson, attracted Tittle 
away from WBMX, doubling her salary.-Tom Joyner had the 
morning slot; slotted between Joyner and early-evening DJ Bebe 


18 


D. Banana, Tittle became Tittle in the Middle. WJPC quickly 
became a local powerhouse, sponsoring major concerts like a 
Parliament-Funkadelic show at Soldier Field in 1978. Joyner was 
also WJPC’s program diréctor, and under his leadership DJs 
were free to break away from the smoothness that typified black 
radio, allowing for a diverse group of radio personalities to 
develop. 

Though there were popular black Chicago stations 
throughout the 1970s, no collective group of deejays came as 
close to capturing the fervor that surrounded the 1960s Good 
Guys until late in the decade when the relatively new WJPC put 
together a tremendous lineup of talent. It also was not overlooked 
by listeners that unlike WVON, JPC was black owned (by John 
H. Johnson’s Johnson Publishing Company). Joyne has since 
gone on to become the most successful black disc jockey in radio 
history. The WJPC deejays even recorded some of Chicago's 
first rap records, a series of extremely popular Christmas songs 
written by Chicago rap (and line-dance) pioneer Casper. The 
highlight of those records was hearing Tittle sing, “Please come 
home for Christmas...,” in an intentionally off-key voice. 

Tittle allowed herself to be raucous and loud on the air, 
and her loudness was limited to her voice. “She used to come to 
work in the most far-fetched outfits,” recalls Denise Jordon 
Walker, who worked with Tittle at WJPC in the 1980s, and later 
at WNUA. “She set her own style, she might wear a red boa, or a 
fur coat in an exotic color...one time I think she came to work in 
a ballet tutu. When she came in the whole room lit up. She was a 
real diva, but though Mr, Johnson treated her like a queen, she 
never acted stuck up.” 

“ “Her creative wasn’t just in the way she dressed.” 
Walker continues, “Her off the cuff comments on air, her over 
the top personality, her unique voice...when she was on the radio 
it was real mind theater.” 

“Just hearing that voice,” recalls Derrick Davis, currently 
one of Tittle’s fellow producers at cable access, but then an 
adolescent fan, “we all knew she was the most beautiful woman 
in the world.” Her voice didn’t lie. Unlike the deejay with the 





proverbial face for radio, Tittle was the rare on-air personality 


whose beauty matched here sultry sound. 

“She was the prettiest girl in Chicago back at the time,” 
Kent offers, without an inference of hyperbole in his seasoned 
voice, “Even in radio that is more important than you might 
think.” Capitalizing on her looks, Johnson Publishing regularly 
featured her photo in their magazines Ebony, Black Stars and Jet, 
most famously showing off her ample charms in a Jet Beauty of 
the Week photo wearing a bikini made of WJPC bumper stickers. 

“It was a real honor to be a Jet centerfold,” recalls Tittle, 
scoffing at any notion that the photo was exploitative. “It was a 
sexy look for a sexy time. Even my mom loved it, she was my 
biggest fan. And I felt it was original that we used real bumper 
stickers, no one had done that before. And those were real 
bumper stickers on real skin. And yes, it hurt coming off.” 

That popular pinup, and Johnson’s use of Tittle’s voice in 
commercials for their Fashion Fair cosmetics line, gave her a 
national. profile few local deejays enjoyed. In addition to her 
print appearances, her face became known around town when her 
radio success led to television work. In the early seventies before 
her days at WJPC she made appearances on channel 26, the low 
budget UHF station specializing in ethnic programming, as a 
substitute host on both Blacks’ View of the News and on the local 
version of Soul Train that continued in Chicago after Don 


19 








Cornelius launched his Los Angeles-based syndicated version. 
But during her WJPC salad days Tittle took a more prominent 
national television role when, in 1980, she became the original 
host for Video Soul, BET’s music video program that was 
produced in Chicago by Virgil Hemphill 

Through much of this time Tittle was seeing Robert E. 
Johnson (no relation to John H. Johnson) of the Johnson hair- 
care product family. The two began dating after Tittle’s husband 
died; 15 years her senior, he supported her as she finished 
college, and guided her through her early radio career, pushing 
her to do volunteer work. (Tittle has worked with the Midwest 
Association for Sickle Cell Anemia, Operation PUSH, and 
Omega Baptist Church, among others.) She also spent years 
turning down his marriage proposals. “That was my biggest 
mistake,” she says. 1” was thinking about my career and didn’t 
want to rush into anything after Ronald.” 

Johnson died of brain tumor in 1981. “I began to think I 
was jinxed,” Tittle says. “Both times I coped by throwing myself 
heavily into my work. More and more my career was therapy to 
deal with the loss of two great people in my li 



































Despite its popularity, Johnson decided to sell WJPC in 
1989, “He was the best boss I ever had, and that was the best job 
I ever had in my life,” sighs Tittle. “Because people at WJPC 
respected you for what you did, they respected your craft, and we 
always had fun. It was beyond my wildest dreams, being on stage 
at concerts, being in Jet, and meeting people like Richard Pryor, 
Maya Angelou, Isaac Hayes, anybody that was anybody came 
by.” After the demise of WJPC she had short stints at a blues 
station in Joliet and at the smooth jazz station WNUA before 
being hired by WGCI, the black radio juggernaut that displaced 
JPC. Her nine years there were her most challenging in the 
business. “This was the beginning of corporate radio. It pays 
good, good benefits, but it is so formatted, and it is not fun, You 
have no control over the music you play. You had a list of songs, 
you can’t deviate form it, you can’t rotate songs, you just play 
exactly what comes up and in that order. At JPC they trusted 
your knowledge of the music.” Though she drew strong ratings, 
her time slots were constantly being shuffled as she bounced 
between WGCI’s AM and FM stations. When the AM dusties 
format switched to all Gospel, Tittle was incongruously assigned 
to that format, and eventually buried in the 2am to 6am slot. 
When the station decided to switch to automation overnight and 
do away with a night deejay in 2000, it ended her rocky stay at 
the station. 

Her dismissal, after a tense relationship with WGCI 
management, left her bitter. Making matters worse, it coincided 
with the death of her beloved mother. “Mommy died and I went 
through this really terrific funk for about a year and a half. I was 
drinking cognac, I was cussing out a lot of people, and I was 
engaged for six months to a person I hated.” Eager to do 
lanything to get away from corporate radio, she began doing 
interior decorating work, and she continued to pursue acting, 
taking roles in works like the Organic Theater Company’s Five 
Rooms of Furniture. During one acting gig a colleague (and 
WHPK jazz DJ), Sterling “The Jazz Doctor” Watson, told her 
about his experience at CAN-TV creating public-access TV 
shows. The prospect of doing her own show was immediately 
appealing to Tittle. 

“After all I'd been through I knew I should be doing my 
own television show,” she says. “I wanted to be the one 
responsible for showcasing my talent.” 

In 2001 The LaDonna Tittle TV/Radio Show debuted on 
CAN-TV. Drawing on her showbiz background, Tittle started out 
with an interview format, chatting with entertainers like the 
Temptations and actor Chester Gregory (who gained local fame 
as the star of the popular Black Ensemble Theater biography of 
Jackie Wilson, and who recently garnered rave reviews on 
Broadway for his role as a singing gorilla in Tarzan). But after 
catching an art show of photographs of soul food, she decided to 
recast her program as a cooking show. Cookin’ Wit’ Tittle 
debuted in 2003,. 

Not long after she launched her television show she found 
herself back on the radio in an atmosphere far different than her 
sour experiences at WGCI, Since Summer 2005 South Side 
listeners can now hear her on Friday afternoons on WKKC, 
Kennedy-King’s college station, as part of a program where radio 
veterans mentor college deejays (her peers include Al Greer, 
Richard Pegue, Bonnie Deshong, Wali Muhammad, and Harold 
Lee Rush). “On her show she can play anything she wants, and 
she has a ball,” explains Doran Jones, the station manager at 
WKKC. “She really loves the freedom of KKC. And the students 


20 


love talking to someone they really look up to.” 

In the summer of 2005 Tittle was basking in the 
satisfaction of being back on the air, and getting her cooking 
series to where she wanted it when she got an intriguing offer. 
“My agency calls me and says, ‘Tittle, | don’t know if you're 
interested in this, but there’s a music video.’ She mentioned the 
name to me and I said, ‘oh really..."” 

It was actually two videos, chapters seven and eight of R. 
Kelly’s “Trapped In The Closet.” Earlier in the year Kelly had 
released a musically minimalist five-part melodrama that 
featured him singing a chorus-free, intentionally convoluted 
narrative over a extremely spare track punctuated with tense, 
heartbeat-like surges. The songs, and the soap opera-like videos 
that accompanied them, had become a national obsession, with 
black radio fans offering it as proof of Kelly’s genius, and (if one 
accepts web message boards as data) huge numbers of white 
music fans celebrating it as a “so-bad-it’s-good” unintentional 
comedy that proves Kelly’s denseness. Regardless of why people 
were listening, the public expressed an appetite for more, which 
Kelly was eager to feed by expanding the saga. 

Each chapter of “Trapped in the Closet” ends with an 
intense twist, and as the seventh entry comes to its climax 
Sylvester (Kelly’s gunhappy character) and Twan (his hot- 
headed ex-con brother-in-law) have their cocked firearms aimed 
to the front door, ready to terminate the interloper on the other 
side. Suddenly the door opens to reveal the first overtly comedic 
moment of the epic. There stands La Donna, done up as a 
humorously addled grandmother, holding a kitchen utensil like a 
weapon, as Kelly sings, “it's Rosie the nosy neighbor/Oh, with a 
spatula in her hand/Like that's gon’ do something against them 
guns...” 

Though her appearance in chapter eight is less prominent 
(Twan the con tells her she’s “a ‘G,’ no doubt,” for her 
boldness), Tittle’s brief appearance was extremely important, as 
the high camp humor it heralded was what ultimately crossed 
“Trapped in the Closet” over to a larger, more mainstream 
audience. The ensuing action with (spoiler alert) a defecating, 
asthmatic, midget stripper and a shotgun-toting white trash 
adulteress (sung by Kelly in a hillbilly accent) ignited a series of 
parodies on Saturday Night Live, Mad TV, South Park, and even 
inspired a pseudo academic symposium (with the pooping midget 
as a guest speaker). For La Donna the best attention came from 
Jimmy Kimmel Live, which showed her clip"multiple times, with 
the host delighting in her performance. When Kelly appeared as 
a guest on the show in the wake of its nightly screenings of the 
video (and the talk show host’s own parody) the singer told 
Kimmel that he had big plans for Rosie in the future. 

While Kelly’s public pronouncements (on Kimme/ and in 
the “Remix Commentary” on.the DVD) virtually guaranteed that 
her character would appear again in his dozens (!) of proposed 
ensuing chapters, Tittle hopes that “Trapped in the Closet”-mania 
will lead to the story being spun off into a more lucrative form, 
such as a feature film or sitcom (though the job paid well, music 
videos do not offer the perpetual residuals of other broadcast 
work). A film seems unlikely, as Kelly already refers to the 
series of videos as a movie within the text of the piece (at one 
point in the video Kelly’s omniscient narrator character, who is a 
different person than his Sylvester character, jumps out of a 
closet and sings, “now pause the movie...” in order to brace us 
for the shock of the midget hiding in the kitchen cabinet). But 
while there have not been any formal announcements about a 











television show, Kelly has vaguely referred to it in conversations 
with cast members. Though she can do little on her own to 
advance these plans (Tittle is not a personal friend of Kelly's), 
she eagerly anticipates the work, and delights in her elementary 
students affectionately calling her “Miss Rosie.” 

Despite Rosie being her most promising acting role, it 
seems odd, and even a little wrong, seeing La Donna Tittle 
dressed as a doddering old woman. Just as she seemed like an old 
soul trapped in a sexy young thing’s body during her radio 
heyday, the playful, girlish energy she exudes on her current 
radio and TV shows betray her biological age, and it’s jarring to 
see her as a shaking, senile nutty old lady. 

But Tittle would be the first to point out that unlike her 
radio work, in which she projects an extension of her own 
personality, this is an acting job, and while she is most excited 
about the monetary prospects of playing Rosie, it is the thespian 
aspects of the role she’s proudest of. Though Kelly certainly 
listened to Tittle when he was growing up, he has yet to 
acknowledge the kinship between his cinematic neighbor and his 
Tittle in the Middle. “I don’t think he has made the connection,” 
offers Tittle. “And that is excellent, because I want to believe 
that he just thinks I'm a good actress. This is what I want to do - 
to bring a character to life.” 

“La Donna has a personality to be reckoned with,” 
explains Elizabeth Geddes, Tittle’s longtime talent agent who 
booked the “Trapped in the Closet” gig, “but she is a also a good 
actor. Either you have it or you don’t, and she does.” 

little was invited back to see the rest of the filming but 
a role in a McDonalds industrial film made it impossible. Though 
“Trapped in the Closet” has yet to impact her high-profile 
bookings, between her radio and cooking shows, and the 
numerous industrial films she has been doing recently, these days 
her datebook is packed. She is also working on two books, a 
cookbook based on her show, and an autobiography about her 
years in the industry. In addition, she helps run after school arts 
integration programs at public elementary schools, and 
substitutes at her alma matter, Dunbar Vocational 

But she still finds time to party, and last Fall she couldn't 
resist an Opportunity to see if Rosie could get through yet another 
door unscathed. “R. Kelly was going to be at this club so I 
decided that me and my girlfriend, we were going. There was a 
V.I.P. room upstairs, and I told security I was Rosie the Nosy 
Neighbor, and I bogarted my way up there. When Kelly came in 
he saw me and hugged me. He had his little area on one side and 
I had my little area on the other side of the V.I.P. section, so I 
had my fan, and I was staring at him, getting all up into the 
character, Later he was coming down the steps, singing while he 
walked, and he looked at me and said, “you know, I got a lot of 
work for you.” 





“That's good, I thought, because I want to be Rosie 
forever,” Tittle declares with a sexy lilt that brings to mind 
anything but a doddering, elderly neighbor. Then with a sly smile 
she adds, “I want to make enough money to really live next door 
to R. Kelly.” 











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NARDWUAR THE HUMAN SERVIETTE 


VERSUS 


FRIKA BAMBAATAA 





ss He a} 


INCREDIBLE VONGS 


Nardwuar: Who are you? 

Afrika Bambaataa: I'm Afrika Bambaataa, the godfather of hip- 
hop last millennium, the Amu-ra of universal hip-hop culture 
this millennium 

Afrika Bambaataa, is hip-hop's birthday really November 
12, 1974? 

Well, hip-hop's birthday, that we say is November 12 is when 
we decided to call this whole culture hip-hop. Hip-hop even 
goes further than that, but we decided to name it hip-hop as a 
culture, meaning with the b-boys, the b-girls, the MCs, the 
aerosol writers, graffiti artists and the DJs and that fifth element 
that holds it all together. What we say in the Universal Zulu 
Nation is the knowledge. Knowledge, culture and overstandin' 
Why November 12, 1974, what's the significance of that 
date? 

Well that's the date that | decided we should name this as a 
whole culture and start moving from there. November was the 
time where people used to party inside in the centers or 
community gymnasiums or many of the inside clubs that we had 
and where people would come and have an enjoyment time 
Everybody got together and got down to the hip-hop music that 
was being played by all the great pioneers at that time. 

Afrika Bambaataa, what can you tell me about breakbeats? 
What are breakbeat 
Breakbeats is that certain part of the records that makes the 
audience get crazy on the dance floor. It could be just a few 
seconds, it could be a minute long but you take it and you 
extend. Now today a lot of breakbeats are a whole lot of 
different things. They call 'em drum 'n' bass breakbeats. They 
had the breakbeats of the certain songs off of funk records, rock 


24 





DONGO RO! 


records, hip-hop records, soca records, anything that has that 
certain sound, that certain beat, that certain bass, that certain 
grunt, that certain movement of the record that makes different 
sounds when you scratch it. These are all part of the breakbeat 
sound 

Afrika Bambaataa, one particular breakbeat I wanted to 
ask you about was this one. [Nardwuar pulls out a record] 
What can you say about the importance of the Incredible 
Bongo Band's breakbeat? = 

Well, this is the national anthem for all hip-hop people, 
especially the b-boys and the b-girls. This is one of the songs 
that Kool Herc and myself used to play back in the day and the 
Grandmaster Flash. "Bongo Rock," "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and 
all the drum beats that was coming from this great group, the 
Incredible Bongo Band many good sounds on this album. And 
this was the one albums that you used to get cheap for $1.99 and 
now many of the stores have just started selling it for 25 to 30 to 
50 dollars just for this album. It's a great album, a great group 
and a great sound. 

Afrika Bambaataa, if you turn the record over, I wanted to 
point something out. Check out where this record was 
actually recorded. In... [Nardwuar points to the back of the 
record] 

Well I don't know if it was really recorded in Vancouver, ‘cause 
I've never seen this one here before. So somebody might have 
just put that there. 

No! It's really recorded in Vancouver. Michael Viner's 
Incredible Bongo Rock is recorded here in Vancouver. So 
does that mean that Vancouver is kind of ground zero for 
hip-hop then? 








I don't know, ‘cause all my old albums I never seen that on here. 

I couldn't say where it was recorded. Some people say it was 

recorded in the West Indies, others say it was recorded in 

England so it's hard to say. It's the first time I've ever seen that 

on there. 

No, it's really recorded in Vancouver. 

That's what you said but that's not what I seen a few years ago. 

No, it really is. I'm not joking. The musicians may not have 

been from Vancouver, but it really was recorded here. 

I couldn't tell ya ‘cause back then we didn't have these special 

things. [reading the back of the record]Can Base Vancouver, 

this looks like this was just put on here. 

No, it wasn't! But this is an important record though. 

It's an important record, but I don't remember seeing that on my 
Ibum. My original albums, was nowhere on there. [laughs] 






Afrika Bambaataa I wanted to also ask you about New 
York. In the 1970s, the early '70s, how many abandoned 
buildings were there? I've read there' was about 6,000 
abandoned buildings in New York. What was it like back 
then? 

Well, I don't know what area part was abandoned. Certain parts 
of the South Bronx was abandoned but in my area you had 
many buildings. It wasn't like what they say with broken glass 
everywhere like in "The Message". We had a lot of projects, 
housing development, housing and things in my area, so you 
had a little 

section that had abandoned buildings in certain parts, maybe in 
Harlem or Brooklyn. But then later on people were fighting like 
crazy to get back to the Bronx now ‘cause it's upswinging and 
all types of nationalities and races are movin’ in like crazy. 
Afrika Bambaataa, was it like the movie Blade Runner? 

No, it was nothing like Blade Runner. 

Then what was it like back then in the Bronx with all those 
abandoned buildings? What was it really like? 'Cause you 
were a warlord, what was it really like back then? 

Why everybody keep sayin' abandoned buildings? If it was 
abandoned buildings, then where was everybody livin'? So don't 
go for that, it's just a story that many people is trying to put out. 
They had some abandoned buildings, but you had a lot of 
buildings where people was livin' at. You had people who was 
nurses and doctors. You had construction workers. There was 
life there, you had people who was into drugs, you had people 
that wasn't into drugs, the same as anywhere else. Just like 
Vancouver has a drug problem. So you know, we had many 
things that was over there. You had abandoned buildings, you 
had that people Jived in. 

Afrika Bambaataa, what's the importance of Blackout '77 to 
hip-hop? 

Blackout '77 got nothin’ to do with hip-hop. It's just when the 
blackout happened in New York the whole city went crazy. 
Meaning they was goin’ crazy, they was goin’ to stores. It was 
chaos. It was wild in the streets. But then everything went back 
to control and people was livin' as they always live and people 
move on in life 25 








But Afrika Bambaataa, after Blackout '77 weren't there 
more turntables on the streets? Didn't a lot of people go into 
stores and take turntables during Blackout '77? 

No, not true. Whoever came with that is talking a lot of BS. 

I read that in the book, Yes Yes Yes Y'all. 

Yeah, well, Yes Yes Yes Y'all gotta get it together. That don't 
even sound right. 

Afrika Bambaataa, what is the correlation between doo-wop 
and hip-hop? 

Well, doo-wop was the sound when people used to be on the 
street corners and they used to get in harmonies and they used to 
be singing, had a lot of soul. And then hip-hop is where people 
were taking the certain beats and grooves that might have been 
in doo-wop and added it to a breakbeat and started to funk it up 
in the hip-hop community and now you got hip-hop music that's 
happenin’. 

Did any hip-hop groups give any doo-wop groups any 
respect in the '70s? 

Oh yeah. Some hip-hop groups, they loved what we was doin' 
and then you had some people, not just people into the doo- 
wop, but people who was into a professionalism that claimed 
that, "Oh that's not even music, it's gonna be a fad, it's gonna 
fade away." But look: hip-hop is still here and it's definitely 
goin' to take over the universe. 

Afrika Bambaataa, you're one of the originators of the block 
party. What's the importance of a lamp post and a block 
party? 

Well, a block party is when you go out and you set up your DJ 
equipment, your turntables and the speakers and all that and you 
try to get the power. Either you could get the power from 
somebody else's home by getting long extension cords, or you 
could take the power straight from a lamp post. 

Afrika Bambaataa, is this right here [Nardwuar pulls out 
another record] the very first rap record,- King Tim II? 
Can you tell me? What is the first rap record? : 
Well, that depends on how you lookin' at rap. You could say 
this is the first of, started with the first rappin' that led up to 
which we Call hip-hop. So King Tim III from the Fatback Band 
was the first record that came out on a 12-inch. But if you want 
to dig deeper, we can look at Pigmeat Markham when he made 
"Here Come The Judge." We could go back in the ‘60s and look 
at Shirley Ellis when she did "The Name Game" and "The 
Clapping Song." You could go to the Three Dog Night when 
they did "Joy To The World." You could go to the Sly And The 
Family Stone's “Dance To The Music” album and hear it on the 
b-side when he was rappin’, and all the James Brown records, 
call and response records was rap records. Go back to Bo 
Diddley. I mean, rap could go so far back, but this is the first of, 
what we started comin’ out with, what you know today as hip- 
hop culture started with the Fatback Band doin' they first rap 
record out there. 

Whatever happened to King Tim III? Do you ever see him 
around? What ever happened to him? 

You gotta ask the Fatback Band. 

Did you ever see him back in the day, King Tim III? 

No, only when he was doin' his little disco shows, ‘cause this is 
what started with the disco rappin’. Then when Sugarhill came 
with the "Rapper's Delight," came all sorts of hip-hop style of 
rappin’. 

Afrika Bambaataa, who are some of the great unrecorded 
rappers, hip-hop artists? 

The great one known as Super Nature. Very, very, very funky 
brother that he could just look at certain things you had a 
telephone, a key or a picture and just started rappin’ and rhymin’ 
and goin' down on the words. And there's another brother-that 
started doin' some recording afterwards by the name of 
Immortal Technique, which is heavy on the political tip. 








Afrika Bambaataa, did Run DMC mark the end. of the 
golden age of hip-hop? 
Run DMC is the second or really the third wave of hip-hop 
culture that started out that took it a little further when we did 
Time Zone's "World Destruction" - the first rock record with 
hip-hop. Then came "Walk This Way” with Aerosmith, the 
second record and they just took it to other elements and other 
vibrations that they gave to the people with their style of hip- 
hop. 
Afrika Bambaataa, how did punk rock help pave the way 
for hip-hop? 
Well, punk rock didn't pave the way for hip-hop, but punk rock 
is the first of white people who respected and loved the sound of 
hip-hop. It was at the same time when hip-hop was comin’ out, 
punk rock was the people who was going against how rock 
music was supposed to be made and played. And the same with 
hip-hop was against all the disco after a while to show you how 
the funk supposed to be made and played. So they both started 
liking each other, especially when the Universal Zulu Nation 
started playing in many of these new wave clubs and everybody 
started inter-mingling with each other. 
Afrika Bambaataa, of course you did "World Destruction" 
with Johnny Rotten, the original punk rocker. What other 
punk rock groups had you seen before that? What was the 
first punk group that you saw? 
1 worked with John Lydon of Public Image. He was also known 
' as The Sex Pistols. 1 also knew Blondie, Debbie Harry. We 
knew Siouxsie And The Banshees, Adam Ant, Billy Idol. All 
these groups that was happenin’ at the time. The Romantics, The 
Ramones, A lot of people that used to come by my clubs that we 
used to play and DJ back in the day. 
Afrika Bambaataa, what can you tell me about this 
particular new wave/punk ba. _ —.dwuar pulls out yet 
another record] that's been heavily sampled, what's the 
importance of ESG? 
ESG is one of the first records that I started playin’ with a song 
called "U.F.O." And these are some sisters and brothers straight 
from the Bronx that had a different sound than all the other 
music that was happenin’ in the Bronx. And it was the "U.F.O" 
record that I was pumpin’ all over the place that started a lot of 
hip-hop DJs to jump on their record and make them get big. 
And a lot of other records that they came out with, they just kept 
that sound flowin’ 'cause they had a 
little funky sound that was hot. 
And they weren't necessarily hip-hop were they? 
They were more new wave sort of punk weren't they? It was 
like new wave punk funk. Something like Rick James, the punk 
funk king. 
Afrika Bambaataa, you're the godfather of hip-hop, but 
aren't you also the godfather of crunk? 
I ain't the godfather of crunk. Don't know nothing ‘bout the 
crunk cause | ain't dealing with the crunk. So you got to speak 
with my man Dr. Dre and Lil' Jon and all the posse down there 
in Miami. They're dealing with the crunk. Crunk CRUNK! But 
I'm the godfather of hip-hop culture last millennium, the Amu- 
ra of universal hip-hop culture this millennium. 
I would say Afrika Bambaataa, you are the godfather of 
crunk because of the 808 drum machine. You're the first 
person to bring that to record in a hip-hop style and Lil’ 
Jon's still doing that today. If it wasn't for Afrika 
Bambaataa, there wouldn't be any crunk! 
Well, crunk is depending on how you looking at what is crunk. 
So, we want you to go back and research what the word crunk 
mean and what he really was talkin’ about. The 808 is the 
electro-funk sound and Lil’ Jon was electro-funk back in the 
early days with Jermaine Dupri with "Shorty Lee," "My Way" 
and "My Boo." So he's very well versed on the electro-funk 
sound. 


26 


Afrika Bambaataa, who was Pambaataa? 

Pambaataa was one of the Zulu Queens who was hot back in the 
day. She was a female DJ and an MC that used to shock the 
house and turn the mother out. 

Afrika Bambaataa, are there any Canadian members of the 
Zulu Nation? What Canadian members are there of the 
Zulu Nation? 

There's Canadian members. We have a large chapter over there 
in Toronto. We have some of the brothers and sisters in 
Montreal, and there's a few sprinkled out here in Vancouver. So 
there's a lot happenin’ up here in the big Canadian and big ups to 
Michie Mee and all them that was up here back in the early days 
who pioneered Canadian type of hip-hop for hip-hop culture up 
here. 

Michie Mee! 

That's right. 

Afrika Bambaataa, the dance floor is empty. How do you get 
the dance floor full? What song might you play? 

Got to play the funk. Anything that brings that funk, because 
funk is your own reward. Without the funk you become a dip 
that become a piece of... Excuse me... 

But any specific song Afrika Bambaataa? Any specific song? 
Anything by James Brown. Put James Brown on, the floor 
gonna get hot! 

Afrika Bambaataa--- 

Public Enemy! [laughs] 

There's been a--- 

Run DMC! [laughs] 

Afri--- 

Dr. Dre! Ow! [laughs] 

Afrika Bambaataa, there's been a fight on the dance floor, 
then you haye to go do some DJing. What song do you put 
on after a fight on the dance floor? 

You know, we try and stop the fight when they fight and get 
people to calm these situations down, We try peace, unity love 
and having fun. Try to let them know what hip-hop's all about 
and fightin’ would only destroy it and make other people who 
try to say "Hip- hop, all that brings is violence." They have to 
understand that it's individualism that's causin' problems in all 
that or certain rappers that they're trying to blame. You can't 
blame all people that's into hip-hop culture. Say if one rapper 
did something wrong, "See what them hip- hop people do!" No, 
that's just a rapper doin' his thing. When you say hip-hop, you 
talkin’ about all the culture. 

Afrika Bambaataa, but what's a particular song that'll calm 
people down? 

That's hard to say. There's many great records that could calm 
people down. You could go back to the Incredible Bongo Band. 
Recorded in Vancouver. 

That's what he (Nardwuar)said, "Recorded in Vancouver! Or 
you could go back into some James Brown "Sex Machine," or 
you could go to some Public Enemy or you could go to some of 
what's happening now with Missy Elliott. You know, music 
make you lose control... 

Afrika Bambaataa, the great thing about you is you've 
always experimented and played the most wild, incredible 
tunes. Have you ever played and haye you ever met 
Muhammad Ali and this [Nardwuar pulls out another 
record] particular record, “Muhammad Ali Vs. Mr. Tooth- 
Decay?” 

This ol' album I got here, Muhammad Ali, speakin' to the kids 
and 

trying to get people to... 

Brush their teeth! 

Brush their teeth. And Muhammad Ali's a deep brother there's 
the whole history you could research on 'em, Muhammad Ali on 
the internet and in many books and movies about this great man. 
And Muhammad Ali also seen UFOs. 





Now you wouldn't be afraid to play something like this on 
the dance floor would you? 

If it's funky, if there's a breakbeat on there I'll play this joint. I 
play the most weirdest crazy stuff that you would ever see or 
hear on the dance floor. 

Did you ever meet Wilt Chamberlain at all? 

Wilt Chamberlain? No, I haven't met him 

How about The Village People, Afrika Bambaataa? 

The Village People? I've met them and seen their shows and 
seen them in the, was it the Donna Summer movie? 

Can't Stop The Music maybe? 

Can't Stop The Music was a good movie that they was in. And 
they used to rock the house for the disco era at the time. In fact, 
in the early hip-hop days, the only two groups that we could 
play that was still left out of the disco was The Village People 
and Donna Summer. 

That is great. The Village People get some props from 
Afrika Bambaataa. Thank you. 

Alright. 

Afrika Bambaataa, did you ever meet Kraftwerk? 

Many times. That was my group. 

What was the interaction between Afrika Bambaataa — 
“Planet Rock” and Kraftwerk? 

Kraftwerk was one of the groups who I idolized and liked a lot 
from bringing the techno-pop. Or what the Yellow Magic 
Orchestra was saying they was "techno-pop." So it was Yellow 
Magic Orchestra, Kraftwerk and Gary Numan and a man by the 
name of John Carpenter that brought you your Halloween 
soundtrack movies, and Dick Hyman, who I used to check out 
all their different music and say, "We need some electro funk," 
made from this sound that was the techno-pop. And thus from 
the Sly And The FamilyStone and the James Brown and the 
George Clinton and ParliamentFunkadelic, blessed me to have 
that funk to make the birth of electro-funk with myself, Arthur 
Baker, John Robie and the Soul Sonic Force 

Afrika Bambaataa, what did Kraftwerk think of you? What 
did they think of you sampling their record and what was it 
like when you first met them? What did they have to say to 
you? 

Kraftwerk was cool. We met up in a club in Paris. We was 
supposed to do songs. There's some books that say that they was 
dissatisfied when they had little troubles and beef with Arthur 
Baker, but everything got cool. Me and them as musicians, we 
was cool with each other and we never sampled their record. It 
was played live, that's how bad John Robie is. Everybody think 
it was sampled but he played that sucka so good that people 
thought it was a sample record. At that time it wasn't sampling 
We had live musicians that just knew how to drill down on them 
synthesizers. 

Afrika Bambaataa, another thing which I think is amazing, 
aside from playing any sort of tune, you're also into William 
Cooper, who believes there's going to be an alien invasion. 
But it's not aliens, it's actually the government flying UFOs. 
What do you know about government-controlled UFOs? 

For many people, just go to www.zulunation.com-and look on 
the Books For Your Mind list. There are many things that's out 
here. We are not alone and then there's a book called 50 Years 
Of Repression, which is showing that even Hitler made UFOs 
back in the day. So this ain't nothin' new to the government and 
is nothing new to your bible. Read your bible more closely and 
carefully and if you go to any ancient culture, especially in 
Africa, ancient Kemet, which y'all know as Egypt today, you 
will find that we've been dealing with extra-terrestrials for many 
years. And we'll definitely keep dealing with them as many 
years to come ‘cause many technology you have today is on 
alien technology and it's going to get more deeper as these years 
come to fold. And look out for... what is it, 2012? 











What's 2012? Because Cooper believed on July 5, 1998 
there'd be an alien invasion, but that didn't happen. So 
what's happening in 2012? 

We don't know if there's been an alien invasion or not ‘cause as 
you know there's a lot of technology that definitely been 
moving. So you don't know what's going on, what's walking 
around here, what people looking like. Are there clones in the 
government or whatever? But there's much research stuff that 
you have to go out there and research on and for all the people 
who think we alone you crazy as hell. You on a planet. People 
say, "Oh, you really think there's something out there?" We are 
out there. The earth is out there. And you think that's something, 
check out the Hollow Earth Theory ¢ 

Afrika Bambaataa, anything else you wanna add to the 
people out there at all? 

Well, to the people out there on the so-called Earth, we wanna 
say you better respect Mother Earth. She is a living entity. If 
you don't respect Mother Earth, she will spit your ass out. And 
that's why you had the tsunami, you had the Katrina. You had 
over 60,000 people who lost their life in earthquakes in Turkey. 
In Venezuela there are over 30,000 and it's going to get more 
and more funky. That movie The Day After was a movie sent by 
the creator to make all humans wake up. So you need to go back 
and watch The Day After 10 times, the same way you need to 
go back and watch all The Matrix movies, over and over, 50 
times before you get an overstanding. 

Afrika Bambaataa, why should people care about Afrika 
Bambaataa And The Zulu Nation? 

‘Cause we are an organization who's an international hip-hop 
awareness movement that respects all nationalities, respects all 
types of religions, respects all types of knowledge of thought 
and we respect anything - outside our universe, inside out 
universe and universes and all dimensionals and time zones as 
well as our subterranean world of beings that is our insides of 
our earth. 

Well, thanks a lot Afrika Bambaataa, really appreciate the 
time , keep on rockin' in the free world and doot doola doot 
doo... 

Funk you. [laughs] 

To hear this interview hop to www. nardwuar.com 








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Chuck Dukowski is one of the architects of American punk and a founding father 
of hardcore. He’s played in Wurm and SWA, but is best known for holding down 
bass duties on the best Black Flag records in the late 70s and early 80s. Born 
Gary McDaniels he renamed himself Charles Dukowski (a pun on author Charles 
Bukowski) after joining Black Flag, making him one of the few punk rockers 
whose punk name sounds more like a regular guy name than his real name. His 
distinct bass playing provided the melody and drive for some of the best songs in 
the catalogue of the band that molded American underground music, and his 
songwriting (particularly "My War”) was important to the band’s early prowess. 
Though | would love to ask countless questions about his days in Black Flag 
(especially about his unjust exit), I actually was pretty excited to discuss his new 
project, The Chuck Dukowski Sextet. (Note: The filmmakers responsible for the 
new documentary American Hardcore were not able to include Chuck in the 
theatrical version, but will include an interview about his days in Black Flag on 
the DVD release) The CDS has a CD out, “Eat My Life” (Nice & Friendly 814 
Pacific Ave Venice CA 90291, chuckdukowskisextet,com) that is basically 
(though Dukowski denies it) punky bass jazz, with Dukowki and a sax player 
trading bebop-inspired horn lines on original sorta-rock songs, including a new 
version of “My War" and a cover of “Venus In Furs.” The CD features amazing 
cover art by Dukowski's wife Lora (check out loranorton.com), who is also the 
vocalist on this family affair album, I squeezed in a few questions about the new 
band, and my fave subject, punk on TV (Chuck was genius in an appearance on 
Tomorrow, wearing a Travis Bickle Mohawk and a Pee Wee Herman expression 
as Rona Barrett tried to demonize Black Flag) minutes before Roctober's 
deadline. Here's how it went down: 

Roctober: This new CD makes me wonder if you got to listen to free 
jazz as a kid at all? In Chicago every South Sider gets a de facto free 
jazz education because AACM members play at school and 
neighborhood events regularly, but I didn’t think the West Coast 
would be the same way, especially since smooth and cool players 
must outnumber out-there guys be 50 to 1. 

Chuck; It’s interesting that you ask these questions about jazz because 
The CD6 isn’t really a jazz group. We are a rock group that features a 
really gifted, classically trained free jazz horn player, Lynn Johnston. 
When I conceived of the CD6 I wanted to step away from a traditional 
rock formula, I wanted to hear some different sounds, expand the 
instrumentation, If it sounds free jazz-ish, it wasn't a conscious choice, I 
let the music find it’s own direction. That said I did grow up listening to 
jazz and classical music, which has had a big influence on me. My 
parents were really into to that kind of music, especially my mother, so I 
heard it a lot. When I started making my own music it was rock (there 
was no such thing as punk then, we had yet to invent it!) but I've been an 
improviser from when I first picked up a bass. 

Who are your jazz heroes? Your bass, even in the most driving 
Black Flag songs, provided melody as well as structure, and here 
you actually seem to be playing complimentary horn lines on a lot of 
tracks rather than traditional basslines. 

I’m not really an idolizing or emulating type of musician. I have friends, 
who | have tremendous personal and artistic respect for, whom I'd say 
are more that way. They have important record collections, and a dense 
memory for particular musicians and their work. These musicians might 
be influenced to work in a particular style or something; I’m not really 
like that. I try to be aware and musically supportive of what my band 


f 29 


mates are doing. I am driven by the melodies | create and inspired by 
what my band mates create to go with them. Sometimes I'll make up a 
little thing, which seems like nothing special, and then Lora will write 
some amazing vocal melody to it. It’s always.the sum of the parts that 
makes something interesting and unique. I try to create an environment 
where that can happen, where musicians can stretch out, more than 
trying to emulate anything. I do love John Coltrane, Miles Davis, 
Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, all the classic shit. 

You are in a band with your wife, which is a good way to get around 
balancing a band and family. Do you play music with your kids? 
What kind of music do they respond to? 

Yes, we do play music together. We’re a counter-culture family project! 
Milo, the oldest of our four kids, has become our full time guitarist. The 
kids have good taste in music. They love music. Our littlest one likes 
kids’ music, which is natural, but she also rocks out to The Dead Boy’s 
“Sonic Reducer.” "Don't need no good advice/ don’t need no Mom and 
Dad,” she loves that. We all love Pancake Mountain, that great 
Washington DC children’s show that has awesome current bands like 
The Evens. All our children love Black Flag. They love The CD6. They 
always come to see us play if the clubs let them in. Sometimes we have 
trouble because Milo is underage. 

I’m extremely interested in your television appearances; they strike 
me as some of the most important punk-on-TV-moments. Not just 
because you are articulate and measured in the face of interviewers 
who genuinely misunderstand and fear you, but because of how 
profoundly earnest you were. Could you describe the experiences of 
being interviewed on Tomorrow. I’ve read that you were critical of 
yourself for playing to the cameras and being a character in the 
movie Decline of Western Civilization. Do you feel you were more 
yourself on TV? 

The Tomorrow show (Tom Snyder/Rona Barrett) was a very planned out 
thing for the station. The TV people interviewed everyone in advance in 
great detail and then gave the call to a few. They had these long 
interviews to plan their live interview from. I think they had a pretty 
good idea of what everyone would say. They treated me in a civil and 
professional manner. | wouldn't call it friendly, I was unbelievably 
exhausted that day because the night before we'd played a show in 
Vancouver BC and driven 1000 miles, all night, to get back in time. 
Considering that, it went down all right. The mix of co-interviewees was 
kinda off if you ask me. I was glad to be able to say some of the things I 
said and that I was able to keep a grip and represent when they tried to 
trip me up. Ultimately those people were pigs. I appreciate that you said 
1 was earnest; I think that earnestness is undervalued. There is some 
purity in meaning what you say. Another TV appearance was filmed live 
when a TV crew from Two On the Town came out to a gig we were 
playing in East LA put on by The VEX. The Two On the Town show 
was all about the problem of punk rock violence, | had the flu and had 
been bashed by a cop’s club. That show was very tense all the way 
around, both the cops and the audience. | was pretty angry and edgy by 
the time they came in with the TV cameras. One of the things that 
surprised me the most about being on these show was how much 
exposure I received. Strangers on the street recognized me, people 
commented a lot. It was actually shocking to me because I didn’t watch 
TV very much; I had no idea how much power it had, The Decline was 
different than the TV shows. Penelope Spheeris, and the people who 
helped her, weren't from a completely different culture like the TV 
people were but I would not say they were my peers. There were things 
about The Decline that made me uncomfortable, for instance I was given 
that big beer, which | wouldn't have had otherwise. My image was 
manipulated in that way, you know, beer drinking punkers. But I 
wouldn't say I wasn’t myself in that movie. I was having fun playing to 
the camera and | think I was pretty funny in it. It’s weird to see yourself 
in something like that, to have your lifestyle put in that context. At the 
time I didn’t really think it captured what we were all about, but | can 
see now why people think it’s interesting, No regrets, 

Have you ever regretted taking a punk name that sounds so much 
like a regular name? 

Why would [? I am the Duke of Kowski, yo! 





THE MANTRA IN BLACK 


by Gary Pig Gold 
Ten Reasons why JOHNNY CASH Always Matters: 














1. “LUTHER PLAYED THE BOOGIE” 
Without a red hot and blue band to back it all the way up, even a 
Man in Black’s powers weaken considerably. That's why, before 
first setting out to conquer the world as we knew it, Johnny Cash 
planted firmly behind him that Tennessee Three so widely known 
and regarded as Marshall Grant (bass), W.S. “Fluke” Holland 
(drums), and guitarist-extrordinaire Luther Monroe Perkins (no 
relation to Carl though). 

And what stellar accompanists they were...particularly the 
deceptively unassuming Luther (“he’s been dead for a couple of 
years but just doesn't know it yet” is how Johnny often introduced 
his laconic right-hand guitarist on stage back in the day). Yet 
note how most people, myself included, still can't help but 
instinctively pick Perkins’ distinctive boom-chicka whenever an 
amplified Telecaster is in hand. Once asked why he persisted in 
rooting himself to the mere bottom rungs of most every chord he 
fingered whilst his contemporaries raged blindly up and down 
their respective necks, Luther drolly replied “well, | guess they're 
still huntin’ for the right notes. But | already found ‘em.” 

2. “BIG RIVER” 

His brief backstage appearance crooning “I Still Miss Someone” 
in good pal Bob Dylan's “Eat The Document" severely 
notwithstanding, perhaps Johnny's lean, mean vintage 
performance persona is best exemplified -- and fortunately 
forever preserved in perfectly kinescopic black and white - 
courtesy of that late-Fifties Army recruiting propaganda-fest 
“Country Style USA." 

The rending therein of “Big River” in particular is absolutely 
astounding to see and hear even now, as Cash attacks the song 
— especially its signature G-chord flourishes — with a fervor even 
Don Everly at his amphetamine crankiest would be heart-pressed 
to match. Head bobbing, jerking and weaving as he defiantly 


30 


spits out eacli and every stanza on behalf on Uncle Sam, the man 
is nothing short of, in the words of no less an expert than Marty 
Stuart, “wired and on fire.” Check this out on the recently re- 
released “Johnny Cash Anthology” clip collection and thrill for 
yourself. 

3. “THE MAN, HIS WORLD, HIS MUSIC” 

Then, while you're at the video store, grab as well that freshly- 
restored issue of Robert Elfstrom’s “Johnny Cash: The Man, His 
World, His Music.” In the great Arriflex-on-the-wall tradition of 
that other perfectly timeless 1969 documentary “Gimme Shelter,” 
the camera talls Johnny as he sadistically fondies a crow in his 
backyard, rummages through the broken remains of his childhood 
home, ruminates at the site of the Wounded Knee massacre, 
waxes extremely philosophic on his tour bus and, you bet, rips it 
up in front of a typically receptive captive audience. Then 
immediately afterwards he not only auditions a hopeful young 
singer backstage, but instantly sets up a session for him at 
Columbia Records ...as the boy stands understandably 
speechless in rapt appreciation. All in a night's work for the 
hardest-working man in country music, no? Meanwhile, back 
home on the small screen.... 

4. “HELLO, I’M JOHNNY CASH” 

With initial sales of his eponymous long-playing debut stalled in 
the dangerously low-five-figure zone, “John Hammond's Folly,” as 
Bob Dylan was nicknamed ‘round Columbia Records Corporate 
H.Q, circa ‘62, was about to be given the ol’ heave-ho off the label 
and straight back to inevitable Dinkytown obscurity. UNTIL, that 
is, Johnny Cash, hot off his Columbia hit “Ring Of Fire,” 
graciously put in The Good Word and saved the Zimmer man’s 
vinyl behind, thus paving the way for “Blowin' In The Wind,” “It 
Ain't Me Babe” (later cut by Cash himself), and many dozen 
others too weighty to ever name-check here 

One good turn naturally deserving another five years later, when 
ABC Television blessed Johnny with his very own hour of weekly 
prime time Bob happily agreed to make one of his too-few TV 
appearances alongside his saving grace to perform their “Girl 
From The North Country” duet ...as only two such joyously 
untrained harmony singers ever could. But even more riveting 
was 1971's special “Johnny Cash On Campus" episode, wherein 
The Man hauled crew, cameras, the student body of Vanderbilt 
University and even Neil Young just for good measure directly 
into the Ryman Auditorium for an evening which climaxed with the 
first-ever public performance of his brand new signature tune, 
“Man In Black.” “| wear it for the thousands who have died, 
believing that the Lord was on their side," Johnny defiantly sang 
“Introducing another new single Johnny Cash won't be able to 
perform at the White House,” the Columbia Records press 
release proudly announced the following week. 

5. “SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN" 

But Man in Black does not live by social comment alone. Indeed, 
it was quite common for Johnny to invite his televised “Johnny 
Cash Show" guests back to the homestead for a post-taping 
tespite of spirit and song. Following The Monkees’ July 1969 
appearance on the show -- highlight of which was the freshly 
Tork-less trio joining their host for an “Everybody Loves A Nut” 
wholly worthy of ("More Of’) The Monkees’ “Laugh” -- Davy 
Jones took up the offer to chill out chez Cash for the weekend, 
knocking Johnny’s Monkee-mad daughter Rosanne for several 
loops when she found him nonchalantly sitting at the breakfast 
table the next morning 

Then there was the momentous evening Johnny had another few 
friends over for a song swap. When the guitar was duly passed 
‘round and everyone present was told to try out a new one, 
Graham Nash offered “Marrakesh Express,” Kris Kristofferson 
premiered “Me And Bobby McGee,” then Bob Dylan applied his 
brand new boudoir voice to a plaintive “Lay Lady Lay.” As if this 
wasn't all one night's entertainment enough though, the inimitable 
Shel Silverstein then decided to test-drive a strange new number 








he hadn't even considered shopping across Music City just yet. 
Johnny wanted to hear it though... 

6. “A BOY NAMED SUE” 

“That's the most cleverly written song I've ever heard,” The Man 
responded, and luckily June Carter thought enough to stuff Shel’s 
cheat sheet into her husband’s bag before they departed for the 
next day’s recording session over at San Quentin State Prison. “! 
didn't even know the lyrics,” Johnny recalled of making his 
quickest, biggest hit. “I had to put the words on a music stand in 
front of me. | told ‘em | want to sing a song called ‘A Boy Named 
Sue.’ Well they laughed, you know, and | said, 'No, it's not what 
you think. Let me sing it to you.’ | read the lyrics off the paper in 
front of me, and that was the record." 

And that summer, only the Rolling Stones and their honky tonk 
women could keep Sue off the very top of America’s Hot One 
Hundred. 

7. “BLISTERED” 

But my own fave rave from among Johnny's voluminous 500- 
album, 1500-song-and-counting catalog was cut the night of 
September 10, 1969 at Columbia Music Row Studios, Nashville. 
By now Carl Perkins (no relation) had just replaced the late great 
Luther on guitar, yet his patented blue suede notes perfectly 
matched Johnny, line by lascivious line, in positively sneering Billy 
Edd “Little Brown Shack Out Back” Wheeler's ode to the fairer of 
sex: “What she does simply walkin' down the sidewalks of that 
city makes me think about a stray cat gettin’ fed,” our hero 
snarled, “and | got tiny white blisters in my throat from tryin’ to 
ease my nervous tension takin’ all them pills. She's got a body, 
oh yeah!” Why Johnny, you dirty old egg-sucking dog you! 
(...what a mighty crazy cookin’ way to go though, right?) 

8. “BALLAD OF A TEENAGE QUEEN” 

Still, behind every great man - those in black included - stands a 
woman who, as John Lennon once observed, makes “the other 
half of the sky.” For John R. Cash, that woman was, and could 
have only truly been, Valerie June Carter. He first spotted her 
when, as a high school senior, his class took a trip to see the 
Carter Family play the Grand Ole Opry. “I'd liked what | heard of 
her on the radio,” Johnny recalled in his 1997 autobio, “and | 
REALLY liked what | saw of her from the balcony at the Ryman 
Auditorium.” 6 years later, now a performer himself, Johnny was 
back at the Opry - and so was June (hot off a water-skiing 
adventure with Elvis, | kid you not). “You and | are going to get 
married someday” were among his first-ever words to the already- 
married young woman. “Really?” she replied. “Well, good. | can't 
wait.” And a decade later they were, yes, married in a fever, and 
remained so until she passed, four months ahead of her man, in 
2003. Right to the very end and beyond, Johnny remained both 
devoted and indebted to his “poor valley girl," and as June had 
promised him years earlier, “Till the mountains split open with the 
weight of the sun, we'll rise up together ...as one.” 

9. “GOOD OLD AMERICAN GUEST” 

\t was from the balcony of an altogether different auditorium— Roy 
Thomson Hall in Toronto - where | personally first saw both June 
& Johnny perform together, sometime during those dreaded mid- 
Eighties. You see, it was then that the Reaganomic phenomenon 
known as the Automatic Teller Machine had first crossed 
northward into my home and native Canada, and every self- 
respecting financial institution in the land was scurrying to be the 
14st to introduce this new wonder to their most valued customers. 
Still, | was more than quite unprepared altogether, upon entering 
my local Canada Trust branch very late one night, to come face to 
face with a life-size cut-out of The Man In Cardboard lurking over 
in the corner of the darkened lobby. Yes, it turns out my financial 
institution had bartered a deal to have you-know-who be their 
celebrity spokesperson, and each brand new A.T.M. they installed 
was christened — you guessed it - a Johnny Cash Machine. This 
brazenly un-Canadian act of corporate whoring aside, a quick 
flash of my shiny new Johnny Cash Card (along with a ten dollar 


3\ 


bill) DID allow me entrance to a special customers-only Johnny 
Cash Canada Trust Concert that fall, wherein June, hotter than a 
pepper sprout and THEN some, joyously high-stepped her 
dancing shoes clear off and over the wax-painted heads of that 
austere Roy Thomson audience, Johnny bar-stormed through his 
many many hits at near-Ramone intensity and, ‘way over in the 
corner on the Telecaster? Why, ladies and gentlemen, it was 
none other than Buddy Holly’s last bass player, Waylon Jennings! 
Needless to say my fellow A.T.M. enthusiasts and | had a grand 
ole time ...but en route home later that night | must admit | never 
was successful in thieving any of those cardboard Cashmen from 
their bank lobbies: They'd all been strategically fastened to the 
floors with chains. * 

10. “AMERICAN RECORDINGS” 

And so, the end nears. But true brave artists, like the very finest 
of wines or Ren & Stimpy cartoons, only seem to improve with the 
passage of time. Yet nobody but nobody - quite possibly not even 
The Man himself - could ever have prepared for the naked beauty 
and raw splendor which were the sonically stark series of albums 
Johnny made during the final decade of his all-American career. 
Thank heavens Rick Rubin most obviously picked up on how the 
Eighties, and Mercury Records especially, had stupidly 
squandered the abundant Cash bounty on a series of ill-advised 
“big hat" productions and all-star Yesteryear groupings, and 
instinctively knew just what to do: Set Johnny up on a stool in his 
living room -- or the Viper Room, throw up a couple of mics, 
simply press “record” and let the magic flow. The initial result was 
that TRULY alt.-country masterpiece “Delia's Gone” (and its 
accompanying video wherein J.C. wastes uber-waif Kate Moss 
away with a single round from his “sub-machine”). Beauty, eh? 
Then a further four full Rubin-directed discs followed, culminating 
with what is likely to be Johnny's fifty-fourth (!) and benedictory 
hit, “Hurt.” P.S.: and the Old Testament video for THAT one 
actually won Johnny an MTV Award ...but alas, the man never 
made it to New York in time to collect. 

“Country music used to represent horses, railroads, land, 
Judgment Day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, 
adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, 
home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, 
larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. 
And Mother. And God.” (Johnny Cash, 1932 — 2003) 


















H(S THOUGHT Wh/AS ONLY To HAVE EXCLUSIVE ANUSIC FOR 
THE DANCEHALL. PUBLIC DEMAWD DRE HIA] To RELEASE 
THESE TRACKS ON HIS own LABEL, STUDIO ONE, 


ALANY IMPRINTS 
AMONG OTHERS. AS HIS OUTPUT GREW COXSOVE HAD 
o THE MARKET. RADIO DTS TIRED OF His DoMINATION OFTEA/ 


DISATISSED STUDIOL RELEASES ON NAME ALONE 


Now/ coxsoné CoL/LD 
RECORD 4 BAD oR 
















KA MORNING # PlAY AN 
ACETATE (ONE OFF VY. 
PRESSING) oF THE SESSion/ 
THAT SAME NITE AT 
THE DANCE, THIS EWABLED 
His TO GUAGE RESPONSE 
AND DECIDE IF SONGS 
EVER ALADE IT To PRESS 














| pe 
IN 1328 WHILE SKOWING UP IN JA CHRIS WILSON HEARD 
THE GLADIATORS “HELLOCAROL” “IHEARD THAT SONG @ 4 DANCE 
THE BI ONLY FLAYED I(T ONCE, BUT IT STRUCK ME. THERES 
AN Coon VOCAL CHORUS ¢ THEN’ AN INSTRUMENTAL CODA. 
ABARS €THEN THEY RE BACK INTO 7- IT 

[HAD To HAVE IT. THE STORE 1 WENT To pte ee ioe 
SOLD OUT; So DID THE NEXT TH, one SUGGESTED 1 Go 
ASH DoDD HIMSELF, SINCE He WAS dus, AS FAR 
AS THE NEXT RECORD SHor SO, ! DID.” 
















hoe ar 








ae : ene iM A oe p 


“WHEN (WENT INTO HIS SHoP #4SKED FOR THAT RECORD 
THEY WEAT INTO THE BACK, Aup 14 SURE THEY ERE... 
‘WHAT DOES THIS WHITE Boy WaT THs FOR?/ HOW HAS 
HE HEARD (77 “BUT MR DOD came ou LASHED Ae: WHERE I 


HEARD THAT RECORD syd BEGAV LOOKING FOR IT." 


“HE sways oo music Foe THE PEOPLE. ——S— 
HE WASN'T CONCERAED WITH MAKING ISS = | 
MUSIC FOR THE RAN IN THE Affn/sin/ ISD 

oN THE Hil ToEWZO Y, UPTOWN cRowps 
NoT DodD, ALWAYS DOWNTOWN CRop/p 
STILL HE Took THE THE To TRY ¢ 
FIND THE RECORD For ME. 


HE OION'’T HAVE 77 
(T WoULpD Lee YEAS 
BE FerLE 1 Sor rz 


























CHRIS WiLson COvTINUES... “THE FIRST TIME | HEARTBEAT] DID 
THESE RE- ISSUES, THE FROCESS WAS ‘SEND Your Tapes To THe PUNT 
¢ THEY WILL REMASTER THEA. AND THATS WOTTHE SAME CoWTROL.” 


The 







Pa eS ee uailer 


"SOMETIMES, INTHE PAST WIHEA 10. SUBMITA LIST of TRACK SE7° COXSONE 


THAT] | WANTED TO PUT TOGETHER POR A HEART GAT RELEASE, SOME TRACKS 
Would BE OUTRIGHT REJECTED. A1®. Dodd PROBABLY HAD PLANS Fog 
His OWN RE-RELEASE ON THOSE. OTHER TRAKKS '0 CET, BUT 17 


WOUD BE 4 DIFFERENT VERSION THAN Try ORIEIWAL 1 WAED 


SO ''D ASK AGAIN, ONLY TOBE GIVEN YET ANOTHER NEV VERS oy) 


NOW, TIME PERMITTING, | AN GET THE VERS/ON | KANT SOMETIMES 
RUN OUT OF TIME. IWANTED To GET ORIGINAL VERSIONS OF 
THE WAILERS “DAMOND BABY” ¢ “LEMoy TREE” Now 


‘F | HAD 
I'M SURE ICOULD SEARCH OUT EVERY TRACK | WANT ee 
IN THOSE CASES, 1GO TO THE OR(GIVAL VINYL AND TRY ANb 


BE AS TRVE To IT AS POSSIBLE. | ALWAYS LisTEN to THE 
TAPES ¢ cob{PARE THE V/WYL," 



























THESE COMPILATIONS ARE 
AMAZING. THE SOUND QUALITY (S 
INSANE. BASS (STHICK THE 
PACKAGING IS BEYOND 
THOROUGH OA/ALL CDS... EXCE PT ONE: 
DORINBEAT THE RULER: KILLER INSTRUMENTALS 
FRolA STUDIO ONE. $0, | HAD To 


ASK CHRIS, ‘WHY wo CREDIT 
FOR THE /SUSICIANS 7/ 


ee 

eS eae 

z Bolas : PVs ie 
3 > hi 


CHRIS WILSON RESPONDS “WEIL. 
DODD‘S SKETCHY ow HIS INFO, you 
HAVE To UNDERSTAND HE WAS RECORDING 
SO TRACKS AWEEK/ RECORDING EVERY- 
DAY. AWD AIR. DoD WAS HAWDS ON. 
B ALOT OF SESSIONS HES ENGINER ING 
9 BUT WHEN You HAVE A STUDIoRAyD 
IN POR THE WEE H, EVENTUALL 
B at SOMEONE 15 GoWG To MISS A 

THEY MAY Do one TRACK tH47 OM a 
GETS PUT OUT BY THE STUDIO AO]! 
BAND ¢ NO ONE caw DIFFEREWTITE 
WHO THE HEYBOARDIST IS. IW 
SOME CASES You Awd 4 RqUSICIAN/ 


WILL RECALL A AfONUMENTAL 

EXPIERENCE THAT MARKS 

A RECORDING SESSION, 
BUT OTHERS...’ 

























~~ — 
a 



























EW. conTD’ POST JA MUSICIANS ARE RETICENT To TAKE 
CREDIT FOR THEIR WORK. YoU KNOW THESE ARE 
SESS/ON BUSIC/ANS FOLLOWING DODD‘s LEAD.SOTHEY 


REMEMBER WORKING WitH ALTON ELUS/HE WAS KNoWy// 
BUT THE FIRST TIME THEY WORK with HORACE ANDY 7/ 


YoU HEAR Hill 4 FALL OFF YouR SEAT! —HAT VOICcE!? BUT LATER 
THAT (S A CLASSIC TRACK! AND THE MUSiclaN’S Don'7 
REKIERIBER WHO WORKED (T. 

SO RATHER THAV TRY 4 PROCESS oF EUMINATION, OR. 
GUESS, 1D RATHER JUST CREDIT THE BAND ¢ NoT 
Put out ANY FALSE IWFORMIATION. 





















ALSO PART OF THE RE-ISstE ATALocue - FRE — Oe aaa 
; : 18 GREAT EST HITS 
BoBBY BABYLON ovr SOON JOHN Hop niTcet Yel oF MY Mngt ZO CREATET HOSE 
RAY THANKS TO CHRIS WILSON 4 HEARTREAT RECORDS HOE WAS Titled cts, 
THANKS TO VERONIQUE CORDIER 4 SAKE AUSTEN FoR. POVIN’ MEonN, ~ 


PEACE, 
=) ; { SBS tTcHl UL / 










AINTTHLAT A SHAME 





NEW ORLEANS JAzL nt Ob 


BY JAKE AUSTEN 


I'm as embarrassed as I am proud of my “Performers I Need 
To See” list. The reason for this shame is that the list is seemingly more 
about morbidity than artistry, as the silent suffix, “before they die” is 
gloomily inferred. 

Sure, Outkast’s dynamism should put them near the top of that 
list; the fact that Sparks’ elaborate concerts are so expensive to mount 
that they will likely never tour America should factor in; and I guess 
seeing for myself if Bruce Springsteen’s is really the performer he’s 
made out to be should rank him higher, But fuck it, I like fifty year old 
music, | figure legends became legends for some reason that’s worth 
experiencing, and, yes, I'll be bummed out if they die before I see them. 
When a Johnny Cash or a Jimmy Smith or a Lil’ Wally the Polka King 
shows up on the obituary page there’s some satisfaction in having 
experienced a tangible connection with these artists. Obviously I realize 
that I don’t have a personal relationship with a performer because I 
faced them from a crowd of hundreds (or thousands [or tens of 
thousands]) but conversely, there’s no way to deny that joyfully dancing 
twenty feet away from a vibrantly vocalizing Celia Cruz, as she feeds 
off the collective energy of the dancing crowd, creates a profoundly 
intimate bond. 

That said, the artist who has topped my Need to See list for as 
long as I can remember is Fats Domino. Not only is the New Orleans 
pianist the only giant of the original Rock n’ Roll era I haven't seen live, 
but over the years | have become more and more convinced of the 
genius of his brilliantly understated recordings. The reasons I've missed 
his increasingly spare concerts over the years are too numerous to list, 
but my resolve to see Domino has only intensified over the last several 
years as I had begun making semi-regular trips to New Orleans for 
various reasons. Unfortunately my Louisiana sojourns coincided with 
Domino's semi-retirement from the stage, as he has performed rarely, 
even foregoing his traditional closing set at the annual Jazz and Heritage 
festival in recent years. Unperturbed, | have made it a tradition of my 
trips to semi-stalk Domino by driving to his modest but classy Lower 
Ninth Ward house (kittycorner from a Popeye’s Chicken) and hanging 
out for a few minutes hoping to finally see Domino in person. Though 
these efforts had proved fruitless, it was always fun to see his home, 
with its big satellite dish and musical notes painted on the walls, and 
hear whatever local is shuttling me around reminisce about low key Fats 
Domino sightings in Walgreen’s or a bar. 


38 





Mere blocks from the broken levee that virtually erased his 
neighborhood, Domino was initially reported by some as a casualty of 
Hurricane Katrina (a photo circulated of the house | playfully stalked 
with “R.I.P. Fats” spray painted across the exterior), and was eventually 
reported safe after an AP photo emerged of a disheveled Domino being 
rescued from his roof. Seven months later he was scheduled to make a 
triumphant return as Jazz Fest’s closing night headliner, symbolically 
signaling the New Orleans return from the wreckage. Symbolism aside, 
this also offered me a concrete opportunity to check off the top box on 
my list. It would be hard to squeeze in a New Orleans trip into my 
schedule, but I figured out how to make it down there on Saturday night, 
spend Sunday at the closing day of Jazz Fest, pick up a few Hubig Pies 
for my daughter, and take off on Monday. I also figured that if I played 
up my Domino obsession in print it might make a decent freelance 
article, which could not only pay for my plane ticket, but also allow me 
photo pit access so I could see Fats up close. I was going to conquer the 
Mt. Everest of my Need to See list, and get paid for the privilege! 

The trip started on an auspicious note when | was seated on 
my late night puddlejumper flight behind Mannie Fresh, the innovative 
architect of the 90s wave of New Orleans hip hop that created a gaggle 
of Crescent City rap superstars (who these days boast of the number of 
homes and cars they lost to Katrina). Fresh is (I was assured by my 
excited New Orleans host) “the Fats Domino of the 21" century.” 

On our drive to the upper Ninth Ward (the lower Ninth was 
washed away by the levee breach, but upper Ninth homes needed only to 
withstand Katrina’s natural devastation, so in many cases if their roofs 
held up, or were patched before the next waves of storm, only the 
severely flooded ground floors were devastated) I noticed a long strip of 
bars bulging with black patrons, but | was warned not to gauge the 
health and welfare of black New Orleans by the next two days, as Jazz 
Fest is pridefully treated as an important holiday, so remaining and 
returning black residents were in good spirits, and their numbers were 
supplemented by visiting relocatees. That proved to be an accurate 
assessment, as the residents I socialized with in my 48 sleepless hours 
spoke more about troubles than triumphs. Still, as my friends who lived 
there reported, there’s something inspiring and hopeful about the way 
every trip to the corner store allows you to bear witness to an excited 
reunion as neighborhood residents slowly trickle back. Even people | 
spoke to who had profound disdain for and powerful belief in vile 
conspiracies by the local and national governments still couldn't help 
expressing something really positive about their home and their people 
It was far from impossible to hear expressions of positivity, hope and 
optimism. 

Of course, I spent the majority of my time with young, white 
rock ‘n’ rollers, which is certainly not a majority populace, Still, it was 
interesting to see how they adapted to the altered city. Everyone, 
regardless of gender, had become expert at hanging drywall, and 
anything else rehab related. This kind of labor seemed to provide a god 
deal of that crowd’s current income, which they were disseminating by 
loyally supporting the reopened bars and.clubs that were a part of their 
scene. I certainly heard nuttiness that bordered on obscene (I overheard 
a woman ask someone what they did over their “hurri-cation”). | heard a 
few complaints that Mexican brought in to do contract work (a new, 
likely permanent, demographic; one t-shirt I saw said “F.E.M.A. - Find 
Every Mexican Available”) were harassing girls in bars in what I 
assume was a sli htly different manner than the i a underclass did. 


a 

















And in the nuttiest story, legendary punk one man band King Louie is 
said to have declared, after a national tour where his hurricane survivor 
status provided him with free lodging and generous attention 
everywhere he went, “Hurricane Katrina is the best thing that ever 
happened to me!” 

In the morning before going to the fairgrounds I did a morbid 
version of my annual ritual visit to Fats’ house, figuring some pictures 
for my article might be necessary. As we passed the drop in elevation 
that separates the upper Ninth form the lower I began to see scores of 
signs on telephone poles advertising rehab businesses, insurance 
lawyers, and mold removal services. The devastated homes, cars balled 
up like tin foil, and empty, lifeless streets approaching Domino’s 
domicile were eerie, but his home actually had been taken care of pretty 
well. Though gutted, it was cleaned up, repairs were underway, and the 
morbid graffiti was gone. Mt hosts wanted to show me the levee break 
as we headed up towards the festival. Here we began to see too many 
signs of life, as the spot of the break was acting as a powerful tourist 
magnet. I felt a little guilty being a part of it, but it was actually a 
powerful situation that | can’t fault anyone for wanting to experience. 
The homes directly in the path of the waters were demolished so 
thoroughly that it was obvious how deadly this event was. A New 
Orleansian pointed out the spot where the boat broke through the levee. 
Though I had never read anywhere that a boat is what broke through the 
levee, none of the other locals disputed the claim, and the in-progress 
patch certainly looked consistent with the size of a boat breaching it. 
While I certainly don’t know that to be the truth, the fact that this 
commonly held belief had not been widely reported, or broadly refuted, 
in the media definitely speaks to concerns locals had about skewed, 
incomplete, dangerous media coverage of the catastrophe. 

Somehow even after visiting that disaster site we were 
eventually able to muster up good spirits after entering the fairgrounds. I 
got my photo credentials without a hitch, there were a number of 
exciting acts before the Fats finale, and the food and libations were 
flowing. The first music we checked out was the actually an excellent 
performance in the Gospel Tent. After that, however, the day became a 
little iffy. Word got around that one of the most anticipated events of the 
day, the reunion of rapper Slick Rick and his human beat box Doug E. 
Fresh was not to be, as Rick had managed to get arrested once again 
That disappointment was tempered by the excitement of going to see 
one of my all time favorite acts, the New Orleans girl group the Dixie 
Cups. Unfortunately as soon as they began to play my heart dropped as 
the pick up musicians were absolutely horrible, and the ladies’ Riverboat 
Casino-polished performance was joyless, lifeless and rather unpleasant. 
We still were excited to see the legendary Irma Thomas, said to be in 
very fine voice. But just as her set was scheduled to begin sheets of rain 
instantly came down, postponing the performance, and leaving us 
shelterless, as the once comfortable Gospel Tent bulged with sinners. 
After the rain Thomas appropriately sang her hit “After the Rain,” which 
was great to see, but because we were now relegated to an unstable 
patch of mud it was hard to fully. appreciate her. Still 1 was excited for 
Fats later that day, and as I headed towards a distant stage to catch the 
great Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave fame) my bubbling Fats excitement 
took a hit 











“Fats is sick!” an older black gentleman was going around 
announcing to anyone who would listen. “I heard Fats is in the hospital,” 
someone added. Th2 entire massive fairgrounds was buzzing with the 
bad news, and like a game of telephone the story quickly accelerated. 
“Fats had a heart attack...,” “Fats is in intensive care...” “Fats Domino 
is dead!” 

Thankfully the rumor was dispelled fairly quickly, as the 
festival organizers began posting signs around that Fats Domino had felt 
ill that day, had to go to the hospital, and would not be performing. | 
was extremely relieved that he was OK, but I was also pretty 
disappointed that the man I came here to see wouldn't play, that I wasn’t 
going to be able to fulfill my story assignment, and I definitely wasn’t 
going to be able to check Fats off my list. Trying to cheer the crowd up 
Moore promised to bring up a special surprise duet partner, so I 
‘positioned myself in the photo pit anticipating an awesome cameo that 


39 








would lift my spirits. And when Moore got the band vamping to his 
great Stax hits, he announced his guest, My camera was ready as he 


brought out... Travis Tritt. 





I was hoping for someone along the lines of Isaac Hayes or 
Jerry Lee Lewis or even Snoop Dogg, so I wasn't exactly thrilled, but | 
have to admit they sounded pretty good together. I snapped a few pix 
and then headed over to the photo pit of the main stage to shoot 
whomever would be taking Fats’ place. I lollygagged a bit, not 
particularly excited, so | was nowhere within photo range when the 
emcee announced that he had a surprise. Direct from the hospital Fats 
Domino was going to take the stage! | made my way through the 
thousands of excited festgoers trying to get to the pit when Domino 
walked out, looking cute and happy in a linen shirt and a white cap. I felt 
a rush of excitement seeing one of my heroes, and giving up on my 
exercise in futility, | stopped pushing and pawing the crowd and just 
stood in awe as Fats addressed the crowd. In a friendly, near whisper he 
told us he was feeling better, and he loved us. Then he waved, turned 
towards his grand paino, walked towards it, walked past it, and left. He 
would not be playing for us today. Still thrilled to have seen him, I came 
back to earth as I slogged through the mud and took my place amongst 
the dozens of cameramen, all wielding telephoto lenses so long and 
prominent they made me and my digital camera feel pretty inadequate. 
As I stood there staring at Domino's dormant piano, a voice came over 
the PA announcing to a thrilled crowd, “Ladies and gentleman...Lionel 
Richie!!!" 

So later I got some backstory on Fats’ non-performance. He 
may not have felt his best, but it seems he just didn’t feel like playing 
Later that night I sat in a folding chair outside a temporarily non-existent 
bar (Usher’s construction crew had not arrived as promised) where 
regulars still gathered to socialize, and a Fats fan showed me footage of 
Domino in his car preparing to leave the fairgrounds after he left the 
stage, and he looked to be in pretty good health. I also ran into a 
musician who had gotten word from someone who was driving Domino 
around the day prior that Fats decided well in advance that he wasn’t 
going to actually play. In the local paper the next day Domino’s 
biographer Rick Coleman (his excellent book Blue Monday was released 
Jazz Fest week) speculated that the profoundly shy pianist likely had 
played his last concert. He just doesn’t want to perform anymore 
Whatever his sense of duty was to symbolically help New Orleans 
rebuild with this appearance at the Fest may have been fulfilled simply 
by getting people out there, appearing on the poster, waving at the 
crowd. Who am I to question the Fat Man? i 

So there | was in the photo pit, half-heartedly snapping 
pictures of Richie (I think he opened with “Dancing on the Ceiling”). To 
be honest, my first thoughts were probably that this trip was out of 
pocket, as no Domino meant no paid story, but as I absentmindedly shot 


dozens of digital images of Paris Hilton's ex-friend’s adoptive father 
‘ 





more philosophical musings made their way into my cranium “Maybe 
this festival was symbolic of a new New Orleans. Sam and Travis sure 
ain’t Sam and Dave, but they were better than nothing. It was good to 
see the Dixie Cups healthy and making money, even if they sounded 
terrible. Doug E. Fresh made a lot of people happy, despite Slick Rick’s 
unfortunate situation. And Fats Domino wasn’t dead! Perhaps this often 
disappointing, at times pleasant, far from awful day at the fairgrounds 
represents the best that New Orleans can hope for in the near future 
Things aren’t going to be perfect, they may not even be particularly 
good, but in times like these if you expect a rollicking, rockin’ n’ rollin’ 
dynamic, age-defying Fats Domino concert spectacular maybe you're 
not being too realistic. There’s no shame in lowered expectations, 
considering the shit that went down in Summer 2005. Halfway decent 
can be considered triumphant, and hey! Jazz Fest was halfway decent! 
Wooo! 

And my personal triumph was that, technically, I definitely got 
to see Fats Domino. Not an ideal way to check the top box on my list, 
but a memorable and unarguably legitimate one. Now to move on to 
Jerry Lewis. I wonder how you get into the Telethon studio audience 





















40 


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Next: 
ws Finale 











HOW SATAN’S KID TURNED ME ON TO VOIVOD 


by Brian Cremins_ __ 

The two creepiest people I have ever met both told me they were in league with the devil. The most recent was a guy who asked me to review his 
medical school application before mailing it the Admissions Office at the University of Connecticut. As I was proof-reading his forms, he asked me 
if I thought he should include a recommendation letter from a parish priest. “I don’t think they’re looking for a character recommendation, but if you 
worked for him you might be able to include it.” He looked pleased. “Fantastic! I actually worked as an assistant exorcist a couple of years ago, and 
I have a rec letter talking about the work I did.” I wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not until he produced the letter. Sure enough, it was from a 
local priest. The student then told me several stories about his days as an assistant exorcist which made my office feel ten degrees cooler (it was 
already a cold late-October New England day). I told him I didn’t think he should include the letter in his application file. | never heard whether or 
not his application was approved for med school. 

The other creepy guy I don’t remember as well because I haven’t seen him in close to twenty years, but with the recent passing of Canadian 
guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour of the progressive thrash metal band Voivod, I suddenly remembered Craig, my highschool classmate, the son of 
the devil. Craig was one of a small group of guys in my Catholic high school who schooled me on all things metal. When I say metal, I’m not 
talking about the Slipknots and other “Nil-Metal” gods of the 21" Century, or of the warriors of hairspray and spandex like Poison and Motley Crue. 
I’m talking about the long-haired, leather-and-denim, underground fanzine thrash which was wildly popular in my Catholic high school in the late 
1980s and early 1990s. Craig was a connoisseur of these bands and served as my guru on the path to Metal Consciousness. To educate me, however, 
he first had to terrify me, and he did so with his drawings, the most bizarre of which was an image of a pig-like creature wearing armor and 
brandishing a sword. 

“You like that?” Craig asked me, pointing to his drawing. Since it was a Catholic school, he was wearing a tie and a white dress shirt. His hair 
was long and black, about as long as the school would tolerate, just to the rim of his collar. His eyes were always very red. 

“What is it?” I asked. I loved comic books so I was wondering if maybe it was a picture of some superhero I didn’t recognize. It looked a little 
like a villain from one of John Buscema’s Conan comics. Craig was a pretty good artist. “What does the “WP” stand for?” As I studied the drawing 
I noticed the pig had a breast-plate with the two letters scrawled across it. 

“This is my band’s mascot. I’m drawing the cover for our album.” 

“What’s the name of your band?” 

He looked up from his drawing like Vincent Price looking up from some diabolical project in his mad laboratory. “We're called War Penis, And 
this is our mascot, War Penis.” 

He grinned a little. Craig didn’t realize that | was just as crazy, if not crazier, than he was, so he looked ill-at-ease when I didn’t say anything. 

* “My dad always says to watch out for quiet ones like you,” Craig said. 

As the year progressed, Craig and I got to talking: He asked me what I liked to listen to, and he was okay with Van Halen--with David Lee Roth, 
of course, not Sammy Hagar. I neglected to mention my adoration of Sammy’s famed “luv” trilogy: “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “Love Comes 
Walking In,” and “When It’s Love,” all hit songs he wrote and performed with Eddie and the boys. He was also okay with the Velvet Underground, 
not because he'd heard their music, but because he'd heard they were kind of dirty. He grimaced when I told him I also loved U2, Sting, and Peter 
Gabriel. “We'll fix that,” he said. The band Craig was most proud of—in terms of their music, and in terms of his having discovered them, not an 
easy task in those days before the internet—was Voivod. “You haven’t heard of Voivod? What’s wrong with you?” 

Voivod wasn’t the first band Craig and his friends introduced me to, but they were the first band who stuck with me. Metallica was a little too 
rough and mechanical-sounding, and Slayer filled me with fear (still do, actually). In order to break me of my Slayer-phobia, or maybe to make it 
worse, Craig tried this experiment. Our teacher had given us a free-drawing day, what we'd all been dreaming about: ink pens and endless sheets of 
oatmeal-colored manila paper. Each of us went to work: I drew pictures of whatever writer or girl I happened to be in love with that week, which 
meant that I was drawing noir-ish pictures of Jack Kerouac or the frizzy-haired Italian girl who sat at the back of the room (she was a star on the track 
team but smoked a lot behind the school, which to my mind made her cooler than Jack Kerouac, and just as pretty). Craig began sketching another 
Robert E. Howard-like epic of sword and sorcery. This one was more gruesome than the others, a vision of hell like the ones I'd seen in my theology 
textbook. Concerned, the teacher asked, “Craig, what are you drawing a picture of?” 

Slowly from the mad scribbles there emerged a face with deep black sockets and no eyes. “My father,” Craig said with just the slightest hint of 
irritation, as if to say, “What, you can’t tell?” 

“Does your father look like that?” The teacher asked. To which Craig, with great solemnity, and now staring at me, replied, 

“Satan is my father.” 

1 learned later in class that Craig was copying a cover from one of his Slayer cassettes. “I can make you a copy,” he said. 

I declined, so Craig changed his strategy. Fear clearly was not a motivating force in my listening habits; in fact, the more I was afraid of 
something, the less likely I was to listen to it. Craig understood this; after all, David Lee Roth was a little scary. Sammy—well, not so much. 

“] have the band for you,” Craig said. “Do you like Pink Floyd?” 

“Yeah, a little,” I said. I was not a big fan but a couple songs on the radio I liked. 

“You like the Batman TV show, too?” Yes, I like that too, I answered. 

“Then you are going to love Voivod,” Craig said, with great certainty and a hint of pleasure. He was like a Jack London hero who'd finally struck 
gold and realized he wouldn’t have to eat his dog to survive. “They do versions of the Batman theme and Pink Floyd. I’m bringing in the CD 
tomorrow.” 

Underground metal kids had been listening to Voivod for years, but the mainstream didn’t catch up until 1989, when the band released 
Nothingface on Mechanic/MCA Records. Their cover of the Syd-Barrett-era Pink Floyd nugget “Astronomy Domine” received airplay on MTV's 
Headbanger's Ball, and the band was featured in a short article in Rolling Stone. This is where things get weird. As their choice of cover tunes 
suggests, Voivod was not your typical metal band. Even by the standards of the metal underground, their imagery and their lyrical-content were 
often arcane and eerie. While bands like Slayer, Celtic Frost, and Possessed combined H.P. Lovecraft horror fiction with the heaviness of Black 
Sabbath and the aggression of hardcore punk, Voivod was just as likely to echo (quite literally, given Piggy’s take on classic 1960s psychedelic 
guitar techniques) the works of Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, and the harder-edged British progressive rock bands like King 
Crimson and Hawkwind. Along with Minneapolis post-punk legends Husker Du, Voivod was also one of the few young bands in the 1980s to take 
seriously the idea of creating concept records. Whereas Husker Du only managed one rock opera, the 1984 album Zen Arcade, Voivod invented a 
coherent narrative for almost all of their records, each one focused in one way or the other on the cybernetic vampire known as the Voivod. Most 
metal bands, from Voivod to War Penis, looked back to Iron Maiden’s Eddie as an inspiration for their ghoulish mascots. The Voivod, however, 


42 








provided a lyrical and conceptual focus. You not only listened to Voivod, but you speculated on the significance of the adventures of their Bram 
Stoker-inspired creation, 

The band also had cool nicknames, much cooler than U2’s. Aside from their masterful guitarist Piggy, the band’s original line-up featured Snake 
(Denis Belanger) on vocals, Blacky (Jean-Yves Theriault) on bass, and Away (Michael Langevin) on drums. Away designed the group’s album 
covers and generated the imagery and ideas for the Voivod. His drawings resemble the complex ball-point-blue-pen drawings you sometimes find 
scrawled on desktops or in school lockers or in the back rooms of rock and roll clubs--creepy and beautiful at the same time, like the hieroglyphics on 
the back of a stoner kid’s geography notebook. Most of the underground metal bands of the late 1980s had fairly complex lyrics, packed with literary 
and prophetic Biblical allusions (a lot of these bands were singing about Satan, after all). Voivod’s lyrics, like those of British grindcore innovators 
Napalm Death, carried a political and spiritual weight. While Voivod’s 1988 album Dimension Hatross had explored inner space—the Voivod’s 
creation and exploration of a microscopic universe—Nothingface took on the realities of industrial waste in the band’s hometown of Jonquiere. 

In the 1989 Rolling Stone article on the band, Away explained Nothingface’s narrative thread: “Giant aluminum factories invade a planet, and the 
big aluminum smog around the planet causes Alzheimer’s disease because of the aluminum deposited into the brain...” As Ian Christie poirits out in 
his recent book heavy-metal history, Sound of the Beast, the concept behind the album sounds like it would make a good science fiction novel, but 
there is more fact than fiction to the album’s lyrics. Christie points out, “The [Nothingface] songs ‘Pre-Ignition’ and ‘Missing Sequences’ described 


43 





a mythical metal poisoning in robots, while alluding to the real-life epidemic of aluminum-related Alzheimer’s disease along the St. Lawrence 
Seaway coursing through Montreal.” Craig tried to explain some of this when he first loaned me a CD copy of the album, but before I could even 
crack the band’s lyrical code I first needed to adjust to their music, Given the uniqueness of their lyrics, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that 
they didn’t—and, to this day, don’t—sound like any other metal or progressive rock band. 

Their cover of “Astronomy Domine” is a good place to start. Voivod’s cover emphasizes the mechanical menace in Syd Barrett’s Telecaster riffs 
from Pink Floyd’s 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Piggy replaces the disembodied voices and radio signals of the original 
version with the rusty chatter of his noise-gated guitar, which pulses like a strobe light. While the arrangement and the vocals are faithful to Pink 
Floyd's recording, the band radically shifts the meaning of the lyrics. A song that was once about a journey into the deep, cold confines of space, 
where colors drift past and “stars...frighten” now chronicles the prelude to an alien invasion. What both versions share in common is the terror of 
losing one’s memory and identity to some unknown but clearly malevolent outside force. For Voivod, like other innovative psychedelic bands of the 
last forty years, this is music designed to force the listener to see and to hear and to articulate reality with greater clarity. Voivod doesn’t obscure the ‘ 
horror of what’s coming—the blood poisoning, the memory loss, the madness—they reveal it to us with all its force and violence so that we'll 
recognize it when the time comes. As Fritz Leiber once said of his attempt to create modern horror and science fiction stories, “All that science has 
done is given man a dozen new sets of eyes—and that makes it a great deal worse.” Voivod rocked harder and with more tempo-shifting precision 
and passion than most of their peers, who were still trying to find a way out from under the heavy, pervasive influence of Hendrix, Black Sabbath and 
Led Zeppelin. And speaking of Hendrix, science fiction hadn’t rocked this hard since Electric Ladyland in 1968 

What I haye never quite figured out is why this music resonated so much with kids like Craig. I have a couple of theories, but I don’t have the 
data to back any of them up. I think some of it had to do with the remains of the abandoned brass factories which loomed over our high school and 
dotted the Naugatuck River Valley where we lived. There were plenty of ghosts there, especially after the factories closed shopped in the late 1970s 
and early 1980s. Even before the closing of the factories there were always stories of despair, of corporate interests taking control of the community 
and sucking it dry of life and livelihood. My grandmother, who as a young woman worked at several different manufacturers, often told the story of 
a coworker who in despair drowned herself in Pinshop Pond, named after the pin-making factory which stood on its banks. These modern ghost 
stories carried with them an undercurrent of resistance—traces of old-world stubbornness and community surviving in the faceless world of modern 
manufacturing. | think in Nothingface Craig found a story about his family and himself, growing up in a decaying mill town with uncertain prospects 
for the future. Voivod was there to show that you could pick up the pieces of that fractured reality and put them back together into something 
new—maybe not beautiful, but coherent and meaningful. You could join a band called War Penis and scare the living hell out of people. Anyway, it 
was better than being afraid all the time 

Voivod lost their guitarist Piggy to colon cancer in August, 2005. He had so much new music on his laptop that the band has finished his demos 
and will release their new album, Katorz, in July 2006. If you’re looking for their albums, visit the specialty record shop Metal Haven in Chicago 
and ask Mark to help you out. A feature-length documentary on the band is also in the works, and will reportedly be directed by Sam Dunn, who 
wrote and directed the excellent heavy metal primer Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. Syd Barrett passed away just a few weeks ago. The other 
members of Pink Floyd reunited in July, 2005 for the Live 8 concert in London. There’s no word on whether or not they'll be making any new music 
together 

I don’t know what happened to my friend Craig, or his band War Penis, or his drawings, or relationship with Satan. | like to think he’s doing 
pretty good for himself. I think he’s earned it. 


CN a DYNAMIC GREATNESS 



































49 





UPDATES 


MONKEY UPDATE 
MORE MONKEY BANDS: Ape Fight, Arctic Monkeys 
MORE MONKEY SONGS: “Cosmic Monkey” ~ Paul Brown, “Monkey 
Underneath” - ism “C’Mon Let’s Monkey” — South Filthy 

MIDGET UPDATE 
Dwarf Michael Jackson imperosnator in Times Square 
http://video. google.com/videoplay ?docid=1 5667514 16966025770&pr=goog-sl 

ROBOT UPDATE 
MORE ROBOT BANDS: Giant Robots, Lousy Robot, The Robot Ate Me, 
Sex Robots 
MORE ROBOT SONGS: “Android Girl” — Peelers, “Evil Robots” — 
Epsilons, “I’m Pretending to be a Robot” - The Shut-Ups, “I, Robot” - 
Turnball, AC's “The Robot” - Jimmi Green “Robot Woman Meets the 
Monster Man” — Monkey Power Trio, “Sex Androids” — The Barbarellatones, 
“The Wind That Blows the Robot’s Arms” - Yea Big 
ROCK N ROLL AIDS QUILT UPDATE 
Klaus Nomi lives again as Bowie’s henchman (along with Iggy) on the Cartoon 
Network show The Venture Brothers 






SAMMY UPDATE 
Broadway Danny Rose (Orion pictures, 1984) Here’s a Sammy filmography 
credit that’s rarely noted. Okay, it’s only a five-second shot of Sammy riding atop 
a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, but this is a short movie, five seconds 
is significant. Mia Farrow begins dating an actor who plays an outer space 
shaving cream super hero, and they catch the parade. There in cinematographer 
Gordon Willis’ glorious black and white, in between a Bullwinkle balloon and 
Milton Berle dragged-up as Cinderella, is Sammy, giving the rare two-fisted 
“right on”’salute with his signature Sammy smile brightening up Manhattan. This 
was shot during the 1983 parade, and I think Sammy was Grand Marshall. Who 
says Woody Allen doesn’t have black people in his movies? 
Candido : Hands of Fire (Latin Jazz USA, 2005) In this documentary the Cuban 
percussionist shows off his ophoto of him and Sammy. 
MASKED UPDATE 


Ovo - Italian masked monster mom and pop noise band, 


Rejects — 1977 British outsider punk band wore mask on stage. Became the 
slightly better know Homosexuals. 
Satanicide — NJ masked Metal band. 
Mini-KISS war: In April 06 Joey Fatale, the 4-foot, 4-inch New Yorker who 
heads the all-dwarf KISS tribute band MiniKiss is feuding with 4-foot "Little" 
Tim Loomis a former drummer for MiniKiss, who was performing in Vegas with 
Tiny Kiss, which includes three little people and a 350-pound woman. 
Black Face Japanese bands: Several Japanese acts, including the Chanels in 
the early 80s, Rats and Stars in the 70s, wore balcface makeup to perform doo 
wop. 
ONE MAN BAND UPDATE 

Digital Leather - Sean Foree’s one man synth band. 
Dress Code - Derek Holley’s one man funk project. 

SPORTS/CELEBS RECORD UPDATE by Robert Dayton 
A Salute To The Canucks by King Richard's Army 7” 
Presented by quality stereo equipment manufacturer AKAI, King Richard's 
Army sing a song of praise for their namesake. This mildly anemic rock anthem 
struts its stuff with some friendly synths. “King Richard! Will help us win the 
Cup! King Richard! Gonna take us to the top! We took the Flames of Calgary! 
(keyboard fill) Dethroned the Kings of L.A. (keyboard fill) We said ‘Goodbye 
Chicago"! (keyboard fill) So Canucks we want to thank you! We want to thank 
youuuuu! King Richard! You got the power in your hands! King Richard! We're 
the best Team in the land!” A faceless classic drunken British Ac-TOR steps over 
the bouncy synths and into the fold to proclaim, “Fortune favours the brave, King 
Richard our leader marches down the long road to success. King Richard The 
Lion Hearted, with you in command victory shall be ours!” Chorus, tangy guitar 
solo, piped in rink applause, chorus repeated, more applause, fin. Who is this 
King Richard? He was the legendary warrior king of England who reigned 
around the time of the Third Crusade around 900 years ago. This single isn’t 
about that King Richard, it’s about another King Richard who wasn't really a 
King, he was just named after the King for-his similar lion hearted qualities on 
the ice. Shown on the front of the sleeve in a mask- what does he really look like? 
Why is he masked? Because he’s a goalie! Richard Brodeur was the legendary 
Goaltender for The Vancouver Canucks from 1980-1988. This single probably 
dates from around 1982 when he led the Canucks to the Stanley Cup finals and 
was thus deemed King Richard. 
Nothing makes for a more apropos B Side than a version of that arena stomp 
staple “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.” The male chorus intones “We want 
to see you kiss them!,” thus further implying homoerotic locker room overtones, 
“We want to see you kiss them good bye!” An anglo saxon soulful female pipes 
in, “Shake! Shake! Shake a white towel!” which is a reference to the excited 
multitudes of Canucks fans who, starting in 1982, would wave their white towels 
in surrender, no, they'd wave the white towels in appreciation of the Canucks 
and henceforth spawn a tradition. 
Jerry Dallas - The Ballad of Team Canada 7” 
This single opens with a group of children singing the words “Team Canada” to 
the tune of “Oh Canada”, Canada’s National Anthem. Jerry Dallas is an earnest 
country singer that spends the entire first and last verse naming all of the hockey 
players on Team Canada. Each verse is punctuated by a variation on the catch 
phrase, “We'll give those Russkies Hell!” tying this song into the Cold war fever 
of the time and the intensity of the Canada Russia Summit Series of 1972. Dallas 
also describes the sad turn our story takes when Canada loses to the Russians who 
are “...like a storm on Siberia’ plains, we were caught by surprise, can't believe 
our own eyes, the Russians are stealing our game!” Towards the rousing climax 
Jerry sings “...but maybe somehow it's not over, maybe we'll still find a way, by 
God if you're willing, by Clarence, we'll kill ‘em, we'll still give those Russkies 
Hell!” Undocumented in the song is how in fact Canada did bounce back for the 
final three games and scored the winning goal that announcer Foster Hewitt 
described as “The goal heard ‘round the world!” The B side, taken from his 
album “Golden Country Gospel”, is entitled “Me and Jesus.” Apparently He and 
Jerry Dallas are very close friends. 
Whistling Team - Montreal March b/w Cheers To the Winner 7” 
Most probably a promotional tribute to The 1976 Summer Olympics that took 
place in Montreal; an Olympics that had heightened security as a result of the 
Munich massacre, severe financial debt for the city of Montreal, a repeatedly rain 
doused Olympic flame, a faulty retractable roof on the Stadium, a tower that 
wasn’t even completed until after the Olympics were over, no gold medals for the 
host country of Canada, and - due to a refusal to bar the competing New Zealand 
rugby team for touring South Africa the previous Summer - a boycott of 
somewhere between 22 and 28 (reports vary) African nations! Let's hope that 
those nations didn’t miss a chance to hear this jaunty ditty filled with rat a tat 
drums, high hat and synth flourishes all led by a lip balmed roomful of Roger 
Whittaker styled whistling acolytes who occasionally offset their joy with 
dramatically dour “La la la la la la’s”, a solo chant of “Montre-a-a-al!", and who 
punctuate their whistles every now and then like they just saw a pretty lady 





prance by. Hey, it's Montreal! City of romance! Side 2 is breezier and in true 
Hallelujah bliss the gang breaks it down with a “Cheers to the winner! To the 
winner! To the winner! To the winner of the game! To the winner of the game 
todayyyyyy!” Yet another fervoured religious characteristic so frequently 
exhibited in sports-related records. 

The Rangers Team with soloist John Dunbar - That's The Team b/w The 
Glasgow Rangers 7” 

The Glasgow Rangers have a long history of Footy Anthems that go back at least 
forty years and are still going strong today! Looking at their line up, this single 
dates back from between 1960 and 1965. The sleeve features the whole lot in 
matching team dinner jackets lined up in an orderly fashion behind a large 
microphone (Photo by permission of Scottish Daily Mail). The back is all of their 
autographs in regal blue (that's their colour!) mass produced printing press ink. 
Thankfully the team’s vocal chores are led by soloist John Dunbar (pictured in 
the top left corner of the sleeve), a full throated man who really holds a note and 
probably was invited quite often on their piss ups and rituals. 

“That's the Team”'s melody is originally based on the American Civil war tune 
“Tramp, Tramp, Tramp” (which The Rangers do all over the competition!) but 
more commonly known as the melody to “Jesus Loves The Little Children” tho 
here it’s about “...the team we all adore.” Are we like Jesus and the team like 
children? Or is it the other way around? We can all agree that either way the 
admiration is mutual! The B side in Scottish folk style is also based on a familiar 
melody that I cannot place but has stuck in many a past generation's noble craw. 
NHL 50 YEARS - Fleetwood Recording Co. 

Documentary style recording with sports announcer narrator. Bookmarked by 
children fighting over which hockey star they want to be, various archival 
recordings of Stanley Cup wins punctuated by “He shoots, He scores” , then a 
history of the NHL's first 50 Years and how they've grown traced with random 
facts and figures, anecdotes, and many more muffled archival recordings. “1967 
was the year of great expansion and along with that great expansion came The 
Mods, their long hair and limbs flying...” (cue acid rock background music). 

The Cotton Pickers - Canada Games in ‘71 b/w Sing out Saskatoon- The 
Mountain Song 

Produced for the 1971 Canada Games by Hi-Fi Recording Ltd. 

Pleasant jangly harmonizing folk pop group led by a pushy plain prairie princess 
who sings, “Canada Games in '71 so come along with me and we'll gooooo...” 
then gives you a list of reasons why you are coming with her (“Thrills and 
excitement that will fill your head”) as the group cheerily “Do-do-do-do-do-do- 
doo”'s and “Bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah"'s around her in a circle that is spiritually 
symbolic of their agrarian traditions. 

The B is a boisterous strum chum clatter ‘sing out’ that boasts about how they've 
proudly endured strenuous hard labour on building a mountain with “... a 
spoonful, a cup full, a shovel full, a pail full, a tub full, a truck full until we built 
our hill so high it reaches to the sky!” Whatever it takes, man, even if some of 
those dirt carrying methods work so pointlessly that all they do is reinforce their 
belief in the physical work ethic! Still quite a feat on those notoriously level 
Saskatchewan plains (their license plates declare “Land Of Living Skies” which 
is really just another way of saying that it’s flat). A mountain was actually built 
for The 1971 Canada Games in Saskatoon, of which this single was once a 
commemorative gift shop souvenir. The mountain was named Mount Blackstrap. 
For The Canada Games an official flame was carried from Parliament Hill to 
Saskatoon by snowmobile! Their official mascot was a St. Bernard. I have been 
to Saskatchewan many times and have never seen a St. Bernard. I have seen 
mosquitoes. Mount Blackstrap still stands a triumphant 45 metres tall and is 
surrounded by a recreation park open year round. Not quite The Tower Of Babel 
(whaddya expect from a spoonful, a cup full....) which may be why God has 
shown it mercy. 

Rack-On-Tour — Roll Man Roll 

John Parr- Man In Motion (St. Elmo's Fire) 

Co-written by Canadian folk pop icon Valdy, “Roll Man Roll” has that Soft AM 
jazz sound meets white guy blues lite balladry with a message that is intended to 
inspire and motivate. “Roll, man, roll, man, roll.....” This song is part of Music In 
Motion, *...an event that brought together over fifty musicians to raise funds for 
Rick Hansen’s Man In Motion tour.” Rick Hansen is a champion wheelchair 
athlete from British Columbia who, inspired by Terry Fox, raised 26 Million for 
spinal cord research trekking through 34 countries on four continents and 
traveling over 40, 000 Km back in the mid-80’s. David Foster wrote the far more 
successful single “Man In Motion (St. Elmo’s Fire)” about Rick Hansen and as a 
theme for the movie “St. Elmo's Fire.” Correct me if I'm wrong, but if memory 
serves, I believe it was also used as an unofficial theme for Expo ‘86 in 
Vancouver, Because this song is so utilitarian, when “Man In Motion” is taken on 
its own merits it is shown to be full of triumphant stirring emotion yet utterly 
devoid of any meaning whatsoever. 

Terry Jacks - Put the Bone In 


51 


When a Poppy Family B side became a hit London Records asked band leader 
Terry Jacks to rectify it from ever happening again so that all the promotion they 
put into the A wouldn't be a waste. So he set about to record flips that were 
meant to never be hits. After The Poppy Family split, his English language 
version of Jaques Brel's “Seasons In the Sun” became the biggest single in 
Canadian music history, And what of the B? Entitled “Put the Bone In”, it’s 
really a sad little song about a woman whose poor doggy got hit by a car. 
Showing their sensitive side The Vancouver Canucks pop up briefly in the middle 
to yell, “Put the bone in!” At the end of the Canadian release of the single one can 
hear the drummer faintly mutter, “Oh no” in embarrassment. 

Jadrien Steele and The Mostlee Music Singers - “Grandma We Love You” 
Even though the title is in quotations it doesn't level off the saccharine quotient 
that Grandmothers will gladly put into their tea which they will then pour into the 
saucer to sip out of. This song skips a generation so don’t even think about it, 
parents! “Dedicated to All Grandmothers Everywhere” with a near gatefold pic of 
an unswaddled infant. It also makes a great gift due to the unsubtle rectangle 
containing the words “With lots of Love,” and a large blank space for pudgy 
fingers to scrawl their own names underneath (though they may need help from 
an adult). Hastily propped up in a large velvet e-z chair on the front is Jadrien 
Steele, Star of TV's Ryan's Hope. He is sitting by a fire so freshly stoked that the 
photographer's assistant’s fingers are still smarting from the burns. On the mantle 
is one photo of a Grandma, standard model. The message of the song is simple, 
filled with longing, coy and lisping. Also includes: “When My Grandpa Smiles 
At Me” (something for the other half), “I Want A Girl Just Like the Girl That 
Married Dear Old Dad” (careful you're treading close to alienating your audience 
and you're veering dangerously near disco as well), and “Look For the Silver 
Lining” (during the break he says “Now let us all pray together"). These three 
songs are all published by Lawrence Welk’s Welk Music Group (they know their 
niche). Ryan's Hope was a decade running prime time soap based around The 
Ryans, working class proprietors of Ryan's Bar. Jadrien Steele was the first of 
three people to play ‘Little John’ Ryan. It’s hard to believe but Jadrien did 
actually get the chance to grow up and currently enjoys fencing. “Grandma we 
Love You” was a hit in England which is apparently a country chock full of 
Grandmas and Grandma sympathizers. 

Nichelle Nichols Dark Side Of The Moon 4 song 7” EP 

TV's Uhura, Nichelle Nichols, never quite garnered the attention that her Star 
Trek ‘pals’ Shatner and Nimoy got for their recording careers, infamous or 
otherwise. She already had a career as a singer before Star Trek singing with the 
Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton bands. Sexy space soul, flutes and moogy 
synthesizers combine and swoon careening through the atmosphere as she sings 
all sultry like with the occasional far reaching trill. Highly recommended for late 
nite Trekky romantic liasons, 

Gatefold sleeve opens up to Nichelle in full evening gown gliding along the 
astral plains. The interior features a Personal log from Lt. Uhura. This EP seems 
to be taken from her second full length album of the same name from 1974. The 
title track is related to Pink Floyd in name only-don’t sue!- but is still laser light 
show friendly. “Let's Trip" is full on Vegas space jazz sweat. She's no stranger to 
the troubles of human relationships either on ‘It's Been On My Mind’ that she co- 
wrote with the mysteriously monickered Duke Monday ( a man who often gets 
credit before Duke Tuesday, Duke Wednesday, Duke Thursday...). It begins, 
“Just yesterday I read a very sad story in the Galaxy news...” and moves into the 
most standard soul song on this rather peculiar EP released by Americana 
Records. 

Nichelle - Beyond Antares 7” 

This single from 1979 features her unique interpretation of the Star Trek theme 
where koto solos and multi-tracked high pitched trills lead into some form of a 
nightclub floor show with steel drum pauses and moogy woogies. The flipside. 
Uhura’s Theme, restrains the floor show to more of a veneer of glamour, she 
purrs a bit but it seems wrong somehow, maybe because she won't be born for 
three hundred years, still Lieutenants need love, too, and she did show off her 
legs. The lyrics to both songs are printed on the back of the sleeve but it may be 
too much of a dynamic feat for anyone to even attempt to sing along. The front 
features a cut and paste of her head on top of big ole planet earth. Space photos - 
courtesy NASA 

Someone Walked Over My Grave Sung by Criswell b/w Uncle Dale Presents 
Paul Marco As Kelton The Cop - Home On The Strange 7” 

This song by Ed Wood player and coffin dwelling faulty psychic Criswell was 
apparently found on a lost acetate from the 1950's. It really does have a far away 
quality to it, entombed six feet under, one really feels it in their neck hairs when 
he dramatically intones “Someone Walked Over My Grave” with camp 
somberness over heavy lidded piano. The B was an all new recording featuring 
Paul Marco, reprising his role as Kelton The Cop from Plan 9 From Outer Space, 
elderly rapping about approaching a haunted house with full rock band 
accompaniment. Totally charming. Orange Halloween vinyl! 1995, Dionysus 
Records. 





syd Barrett 


"That Cat's Something 
| Can't Explain" 


By now, it's common knowledge that Syd Barrett co-founded the 
original, and, arguably, the finest, lineup of Pink Floyd, and was their 
acknowledged leader and frontman for a tenure of just under three years. 
Much has been said about how, at the height of his fame, Barrett gave it 
all up to live as an utter recluse for nearly 40 years, only recording and 
performing music sporadically, at best, then turning his back on music 
completely in the early 70s, by which time, the remaining members of 
Pink Floyd were well into one of the most lucrative careers in all of 
Rock music. There's a lot more to it than that, of course, but it all sprang 
from Syd's unique vision. Though the original band proved vastly 
influential in a short amount of time, their beginnings were about as 
simple as that of any American Garage band at the time. The Pink 
Floyd, as they were often known (disposing of the "The" upon Syd's 
departure) was formed out of an earlier group, The Abdabs (who 
recorded the snarling, bile-spewing, gurl-putdown, "Lucy Leave,” as 
well as a strong version of Slim Harpo's "I'm A King Bee"). The early 
Floyd displayed an affinity for Jazz and Blues (even taking their name 
from two obscure American Blues artists, Pink Anderson and Floyd 
Council), though they quickly found their true calling as the progenitors 
of Psych. By 1966, the use of LSD had become more widespread, 
bringing with it a sense of experimentation that carried itself over into 
nearly every aspect of the arts. Pink Floyd led the pack in Great Britain, 
as far as producing music that could cause the listener to "Trip" with or 
without the benefit of the drug. Their logical U.S. counterparts would 
have been The 13th Floor Elevators, whose groundbreaking debut was 
released nearly a whole year before Pink Floyd's equally stellar first 
album, "The Piper At The Gates of Dawn.” Both The Elevators and The 
Floyd shared in common frontmen with an eye to the future, coupled 
with angelic good looks and a direct line to the bottomless well of a 
child's imagination...and, oh, yes, Roky Erickson and Syd Barrett shared 
one more thing in common: the same given first name and middle initial, 
Roger K. In England, The Pink Floyd directly influenced scores of new 
bands, either through their first LP or their live sets at venues like The 
U.F.O. Club, The Marquee, and events like The 14 Hour Technicolor 
Dream, which are all now the stuff of legend. Interestingly enough, 
"Piper" was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, concurrently with The 
Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which, depending on 
who's telling it, brought about either the gentrification, or the actual 
death, of Rock ‘n’ Roll. I'd say it was somewhere in the middle. In any 
case, it hasn’t held up as well as The Floyd's debut, nor The Pretty 
Thing's Psychedelic Rock Opera, "S.F. Sorrow,” which was also 
recorded at the same time at Abbey Road, but left unreleased until a year 
after it's completion, by which time, The Who's "Tommy" had stolen it's 
thunder. Syd Barrett was acclaimed for his vivid "Storybook" imagery, 
and compared, favorably, to writers like James Joyce and Roald Dahl. 
Critics, to this day, have downplayed the importance of his innovative 
guitar style, saying he wasn’t "proficient" enough to be taken seriously, 
yet it's the very unpredictable nature of his guitar patterns that make 
them interesting. The later Floyd would prove to be undeniably 
proficient, and deathly dull. Barrett had the alchemic quality that 
children have been blessed with to create something humorous, abstract, 
and vibrant, armed with only a fertile imagination (something that can't 
be bought). It's true that his well-documented consumption of large 
quantities of psychedelics may have triggered that imagination in the 
short run, but, in the long run, it proved to be his undoing. Syd's early 
decline, however, could be attributed to more than drugs. He was never 


52 





comfortable with the idea of becoming a public figure, and fame got to 
be more than he could handle. By 1968, he was living with his family in 
Cambridge, refusing to speak to fans and the press, and only attempting 
a handful of shortlived musical ventures. In time, he felt comfortable 
enough to leave the house to perform simple tasks, like going to the 
store, riding his bike, or playing darts at the pub, and, by and large, 
people respected his privacy and his desire to separate himself from his 
past. Naturally, big money offers continued to pour in for Barrett to 
record ANYTHING, but he turned them down flat. Reportedly content 
in his anonymity, he preferred painting over playing music, even for his 
own enjoyment. Eventually, Barrett was stricken with diabetes. A few 
years ago, reports had surfaced that Syd was going blind. While it's true 
that diabetes can lead to blindness, Syd's family quickly put the record 
straight that he'd not been rendered sightless. When complications from 
diabetes did take his life, Barrett's family reported that he had died 
peacefully, though no specific cause of death had been announced. 
Getting back to the music (I know, it's about time), Pink Floyd's first 
album was very well-received (at least, in Britain and on the continent), 
spawning two hit singles, "Arnold Lane" (about a man who steals 
women's underwear from clotheslines) and "See Emily Play,” neither of 
which did much in the States (though, the fact that I used to hear 
"Emily" sometimes on "Oldies" radio led me to believe it could have 
been a minor regional hit in parts of the U.S). "Interstellar Overdrive,” a 
powerful instrumental, influenced, possibly, by Surf music and even 
Link Wray, though it contains an extended freakout that ventures into 
Sun Ra territory, with a nod to American Psych at it's most unhinged 
(Syd professed to being a Blues Magoos fan). The song replicates the 
sound and feel of space travel, as does "Astronomy Domine.” Man had 
yet to walk on the moon, but Syd was already there. The band did 
venture out to the U.S., where witnesses say they saw the early signs of 
Syd's coming undone. They shared a bill in San Jose with their U.S. 
labelmates (on Tower), The Standells (who supposedly got the fine 
Psych outing "All Fall Down" from "Set The Controls For The Heart of 
The Sun," a track from the Floyd's second LP, but, I'm not hearing it), 
The Chocolate Watchband (who were reportedly deemed, by the label, 
as being more extreme than Pink Floyd!), and even Ireland's finest, 
Them (sans Morrison). They also headlined over the nascent Alice 
Cooper Group, then called The Nazz. The two bands became fast 
friends, and, according to Alice, even jammed together ("Levity Ball,” 
from the first Alice Cooper LP, bears more than a passing resemblance 
to "Astronomy Domine"). Still, even before releasing their sophomore 
effort, "A Saucer Full of Secrets,” which bore only minimal 
involvement from Barrett, who contributed just one song, "Jug Band 
Blues,” it was plain for anyone within Pink Floyd's camp, and even 
among their fans, to see that Syd was in too deep. Little is ever 
mentioned about other band members' dalliances, and | can't imagine 
they were choirboys, themselves, but, Syd had grown increasingly 
withdrawn, to the point that he found himself in the same position as 
Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones; group founder, first man in, first one 
out. He still appeared on stage with the band, but, reportedly, did little 
more than stand in place. David Gilmour, a friend of Syd's, was brought 
in to fill the gaps, but, while it's been said that there were a scant few 
shows, with Gilmour, where Syd was really “on,” the writing was on the 
wall. The band's third and last single with Syd, the excellent, tho! rather 
strange (even by ‘their standards), "Apples and Oranges,” changed meter 
and tempo with nearly every line, but, displayed a good deal of humor. 
"I love she, she loves me,” sounds, intentionally, like "I love SHEEP!” 
This is followed by a brief lift from "Sgt. Pepper.” The song, itself, 
appears to be about a secret admirer (now called "stalkers") following a 
woman through a supermarket. The group, amazingly enough, did the 
number on "American Bandstand" while touring The U.S, You'd think 
Dick Clark would have learned his lesson with the Elevators ("Who's the 
head of the group?” “What do you mean, man? We're ALL heads"), but 
the show went on as planned...or did it? Syd looks a million miles away, 
his considerably dark brown eyes looking as though they were lit up by 
flashing green neon lights (despite the fact that it was shot in black and 
white!). He still looks every bit the star (and like a precursor to’ future 
megastar, Mare Bolan, who, along with David Bowie, learned more than 











HANS SHEISKELAR, pres? AMTeoMucH 


1M 
"(OE ANAS Te Fouy NAPPRECT 





53) 


a few tricks from Barrett), though he seems thoroughly 
disinterested in hawking his wares on television. Roctober's own 
Jake Austen points out, in the book, TV A-Go-Go, that Syd's lips 
aren’t even moving in this (lipsynched) performance. On cursory 
inspection, Syd can be seen, faintly, moving his lips in time with 
the lyrics, but, during the midsection, he seems to have totally 
lost interest, and, by then, it's down to the others to pick up 
where he left off (fortunately, it's during a unison vocal part!). 
Two more (unreleased) songs signified to many that Barrett had 
finally broken his brain, though both numbers are outstanding. 
The fact that they remain, to this day, the sole province of the 
bootleg trade, is a crime, one that the bootleggers did not 
commit. One could make the argument that "Vegetable Man,” for 
all it's horrific, acid-soaked cartoon dynamics, is basically a 
powerful, fuzz-laden, Rock ‘n’ Roll song. It would be 
rediscovered nearly 20 years later via cover versions by The 
(early) Jesus and Mary Chain and The Soft Boys before them. 
"Scream Thy Last Scream, Old Woman With A Casket,” with it's 
over-the-top use of voice speed alteration, is, arguably, the least 
commercially accessible recording venture that Pink Floyd ever 
embarked upon, but, that hardly makes it disposable. What 
sounds like an invasion in the studio by Purple People Eaters and 
Pencil Neck Geeks on higher grade helium, is still, actually, 
another compelling composition from Barrett, who, in his last 
bow to The Floyd, has made the world a little bit safer for the 
likes of The Residents. The band's parting of ways with Barrett 
has always gone on record as being amicable. It seemed that he 
had simply lost interest, but, would possibly resurface at a later 
date. It never really happened that way. While Barrett did record 
two LPs in 1970, "The Madcap Laughs" and “Barrett,” assisted a 
great deal by his former Floyd bandmates, he never truly 
regained momentum. This is not to say that his style of music 
was already passé. On the contrary, a new "Space Rock" 
movement was on the rise, then in it's infancy, led by Hawkwind 
and Kingdom Come (fronted by Pink Floyd's close contender in 
the 1967 UK underground sweepstakes, Arthur Brown), as well 
as the early Pink Fairies, (more "Heavy Rock" than "Space Rock 
.,” but given to Floydian navel gazing and collaborations with the 
members of Hawkwind and hizzoner, The God of Hellfire, 
himself, Mr. Brown). This seeming last ditch effort to rescue 
Psychedelia, and take it somewhere new, owed a great deal to 
Syd's influence, but it's hard to tell where Syd himself fit into 
this. While his two solo LPs (perhaps, not surprisingly) evoked 
the classic Pink Floyd sound, the songs didn’t always sound 
completely fleshed out. Syd did a few live performances on the 
radio (primarily for John Peel, a longtime supporter), but still 
showed no interest in returning to the concert stage. In 1972, by 
which time the latter day Pink Floyd were putting the finishing 
touches on their immensely successful, if ploddingly self- 
indulgent, major breakthrough LP, "Dark Side of the Moon,” 
Barrett was briefly persuaded to perform with a new group, Stars. 
The band was put together by drummer, John "Twink" Alder, 
late of The Pink Fairies and the "S.F. Sorrow"-era Pretty Things, 
as a showcase for solo Barrett material and early Pink Floyd 
classics. The project lasted just two (possibly, three) shows, most 
notably, on a bill with The MCS. The gigs were poorly promoted, 
and Barrett reportedly lost interest quickly, once more. Despite 
Twink's penchant for recording nearly everything he ever played 
on, no live or rehearsal tapes by Stars have turned up (save for 
one or two poor quality recordings on the internet that are merely 
rumored to be the same band), and in the one known group 


54 


photo, Syd isn’t even present. Meanwhile, back in the states, 
Roky Erickson, finally released from the mental institution, was 
trying to jump start his performing career with a revamped 13th 
Floor Elevators, who also, reportedly, played two, or three shows 
before disintegrating. Syd apparently made just one more public 
appearance, sitting in on guitar as a favor to a friend, in 1974. His 
presence was not duly noted, perhaps at his own request, until a 
poet on the bill mentioned having seen him do something in the 
U.F.O. days, to which Barrett replied, "I never did that.” His 
comment reportedly fell on deaf ears, and it's quite possible that 
most, or nearly all, of those gathered did not even know this man 
was Syd Barrett. A well-documented reunion between Syd and 
his former bandmates took place about a year later, while the 
group was recording the LP, "Wish You Were Here.” 
Reportedly, he just strolled into the studio and asked to see them. 
The band just happened to be laying down the tracks for what 
would be their tribute to Syd, "Shine on, You Crazy Diamond,” 
which opens with "No one knows where you are...How near or 
how far..." ("I'm in Cambridge, you silly goose"), and seemingly 
goes on to celebrate the fine line between genius and madness 
that Barrett strode like a Russian Folk dancer. On the other hand, 
lines like "You've worn out your welcome...of yesterdays' 
triumphs " suggest, rather bluntly, that the group was eager to 
disassociate themselves from Barrett. To be fair, the others stood 
up for Syd, and saw to it that he received royalty checks. Still, 
whenever I read about his presence still being felt on the later 
Floyd recordings, and it's not my place to debate how the others 
felt about their relationship to Syd, I have to wonder, where is the 
influence of this creative genius, and troubled soul, on the vastly 
depressing, Quaalude-paced music of a band that, to their credit, 
doesn’t sound much like any of their peers, but hasn’t really aged 
well? Like many of you, I'll wager, when I first heard "Piper,” I 
thought, "Damn! THIS is Pink Floyd?! This ROCKS! AND it 
holds up, today!” Roy Loney, former (and, let’s hope, future) 
Flamin' Groovies frontman said it best when he told me, "Pink 
Floyd (post Syd Barrett) are not brilliant musicians, they seldom 
reach a medium tempo. They're good for late night listening, 
though...” After the previously mentioned abortive attempts to 
re-enter the music world. The muse wasn’t speaking to him, but 
other, surely well-meaning, musicians were, so, he had a go at it, 
briefly, always returning to Cambridge and anonymity (though 
the occasional photo, and even some unauthorized video, turned 
up over the years, showing Barrett to look like an average Joe, 
not as handsome or distinctive as in his younger days, but about 
right for a man his age. Balding, yes, well, it happens, doesn’t it? 
Noticeably overweight, though not obese. Difficulty in keeping 
one's weight down is a common symptom of diabetes). Syd 
obviously felt like he was being made a public figure, once more, 
against his will, not unlike his troubled peers Peter Green and 
Roky Erickson, who came out of seclusion, sometimes of their 
own accord, but sometimes because they had been dragged back 
into the spotlight against their wishes. Syd was never one for 
holding court with the press and his fans, most of whom cared 
enough about his well being not to disturb him, and to just think 
a good thought about him every now and then. If he felt like he 
had any sort of relationship with the public in later years, I 
believe that's all he'd ask of them. Even now. “Won't you miss 
me? Wouldn't You Miss Me at all?" -Syd. 

Thanks to T. Tex Edwards, Dave Friedman and Brad Warner. 





FUNK#RELICS 


Pedro Bell has been a valued contributor to 
this magazine forever, and he has been a 
crucial contributor to P-Funk for over thirty 
years, creating the brilliant, bizarre, trippy 
Funkadelic gatefold LP covers in the 
seventies and eighties, and helping to 
influence the interstellar language, both 
visual and verbal, that made the Mothership 
such a mother. But before he completely 
left the real world for the P-universe he was 
an underground comix artist/rock 
critic/political cartoonist/ink jockey/illustra- 
tor/go-to-guy at his college paper (the 
Roosevelt University Torch) from 1972- 
1975, catching the tail end of the greatest 
era of college comix (not to mention 
previously doing a few things for his high 
school paper, the Harper Highway). A few 
Summers back Roctober was proud to 
employ the slave labor of our intern Chase 
to catalogue and scan hundreds of images 
from Pedro's early days, and we will spew a 
few pages now and then to you lucky 
Roctober readers, including a few choice 
cutlets this issue. Rejoice! 


VOTE. FOR YOUR 
STUDENT | LEADERS... 


Bal hey 2 





Ny 
THis 13° NS 
KE Teco. = 

Ce RRSK 





Web 
A 


Recently a rash of new under- 

ground programs have mugged 
#M radio. Those undergrouno 
shows feature deep blues, psy- 
chedelic, and the pure under- 
ground music, 
i One radio station in particular 
is outstanding because of its un- 
usual presentation of its under- 
ground show ... Spoke. “the 
wheel of flesh that holds the 
life together... Spoke is fea- 
tured every night except Satur- 
day, from 10:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. 
WLS-FM 94.7, This show is also 
greatly enhanced by being pro- 
duced in stereo; the stereo on 
Spoke gives you the feeling of 
being alienated from the rest of 
the universe. 

Listen to the mind-blowing be- 
ginning of Spoke; horrible, elec- 
tronic sounds that jump from 
one speaker to background to an- 
other speaker and then across to 
the first a truly fabulous attempt 
of three-dimensial sound! 

The underground and psyche- 
delic music that is played con- 
sists of largely electronic guitars 
that utter notes that range from 
animalistic to \ntergalatie, the 
“primeval’ beat of amplified 
drums, deep, loud bass guitars 
that’ vibrate in the background, 
and plenty of assorted musical 
notes and tones from little black 
box machines. 

Featured groups from the Eng- 
land wastelands are Jimi Hen- 
drix Experience, Beatles, the 
Cream, and the Rolling Stones. 
The bulk of the Spoke show con- 





sists of music produced by the 
relatively unknown (under- 
ground) groups. Here is a run- 
down on the most prominent 
ones: Vanilla Fudge, Rotary Con- 
nection, Velvet Underground, 
Blue Cheer, Amboy Dukes, Iron 
Butterfly, Balloon Farm, First 
Edition, Grateful Dead, the Mo- 
thers of Invention, and Country 
Joe and the Fish. 

Blue music is by the two men 
that made it famous - Bo Biddley 
and Muddy Waters. 


“Name brand” groups that have 
made undergroundish music are 
the Doors, Boxtops, and the 
Electric Prunes, ' 

No yak or chatter, nor that 
“this one is for Susy Cream 
Cheese —” jazz. Just the stone 
essentials, 


When talking is necessary, the 
unknown disk-jockey filters 
through with an alien voice as- 
sited by a re-echo chamber and 
background sounds from extra- 
terrestial jungle-like noises, to 
weird, hideous, music-like sounds 
accompanied by faint screams of 
utter pain. 

Naturally, a dee-jay has to 
make his daily bread by adver- 
tising, but, oh! - mother, what 
ads! Only LPs by artist played on 
the show are advertised .. . each 
commercial plays bits of some 
of the songs on each album, and 
even the narrators talk with psy- 
chaedelic effects skillfully ap- 
plied to make little distinction 
from the rest of the program. 

















et OR a 








or at least a Ph. D, (This is America, baby ---~‘caveat emptor.’) 


yu typ 
bm) THIS 15 A MCE 
Lookin’ JoB.“A” 


! ane you HY) 
Rippin’? tHe 
Last 

















































0 

CERTAIN IT WASN'T Been LADY 
RACED IN ComPtT ion ATIENPIme 
BeroRe? NITE Scheel. 


COMMERCIALIZATION of the university was a fact before the used-term paper deal+ 
ers set up shop or college newspapers decided to sell them. And the hucksters are not 
all extra muses: 

WE TAKE YOU now to the Faculty Lounge, where the learned professors are dis- 
cussing matters of academic ethics: 

Assoc, Prof.: ‘Goddam immoral little bastards! I just received another paper with sev- 
en pages Or pipiiograpny and ¥¥% footnotes to sources NOT in the bibliography. I think 
the text was lifted from an unpublished manuscript of Elsenstadts’, 

Full Prof, A: ‘You know something? Ihadthe same paper last term in 207, But I was 
so tired reading all that crap that I didn’t notice. The curve was too high anyway, so I 
probably gave it a C.’ (Falls asleep), 

Full Prof. B: ‘What has become of honesty and decency and learning for learning’s 
sake? I may sound like an old fogy, but we can’t tolerate this kind of thing at Roosevelt,’ 

Asst, Prof; ‘You’ re right! Those little bastards shouldbe expelled,’ (Exits backwards, 
bowing.) 

Assoc, Prof.: ‘By the way, how’s your book going? 

Full Prof. B: ‘Terrific! The Counterinsurgency Foundation laid $2,500 on me for re- 
search assistance, but I get to use the departmental assistant anyhow, for free! And 
the royalties go up to 15% after the first 2500 copies! (He makes rapid calculations on 
a pocket Calculator,) “I figure with this book out and my consulting fees from General 
Indoctrinagion, Inc. Plus a few lectures at the War College, Ann and I can spend the 


Readers of TORCH advertisements will not be surprised to learn that RU students 
are buying term papers at their friendly local term-paper dealer’s, $3.50 a page new, 
$2.50 used; late-model options (power footnotes, automatic bibliography) included, 
Drive it right off the lot, The warranty is poor, however, so bring a mechanic with you, 


Ro CELL 


See 
demia sdieval, harkening back to the universities of Paris: 
and Bologna, Worms and Oxford, Hence, the academicians donnish shock when con-: 
fronted by new evidence of the commercialization of learning. But what did they expect?: 


ey The bourgeoisie, whenever it 
=A gs got the upper hand, has put 

an end. to all feudal, patriarchal, 
idyllic relations, It has pitilessly 
torn assunder the motley feudal 
ties that bound man to his*‘nat~ 
ural superiors,” and has left no 
other bond between man and man ~ 
than naked self-interest and cal- 

lous “cash payment’’-—It has 

resolved personal worth into ex- 

change value, and in place of the - 
numberless, indefeasible chart- 
ered freedoms, has set up that 
single, unconscionable freedom- 
free trade.’ (from the Communist 
Manifesto) 


















MN 






IN 


‘Step right up, folks! Get your 
Board, of Trustees membership 
for only $100,000, And for those 
who act right now, an Honorary 
Degree free of charge|’ 

Yowza, yowza, yowza, Do you 
hope to advance from your pre~ 
sent job in the sewer to Chief 
of Sanitary Inspection (Under- 
ground)? Do you pant for a desk 
in the Bur-au of Works In Pro- 
gress? Do you aspire to gradu- 
ate school, with its promise of a 
career in the¢pros? Your RU de« 
gree is worth exactly $94,731.23 
which works out to an annual rate 
of 28.75% on your investment, 








! 
| 
























summer in Portugal! 





Another example of the commercialization of the university, is the efforts of some 


so-called academicans to improve their social and financial status byplagiarizingstu- 


dents’ term papers! With the rich supply of material available, the professors may 
indiscreetJy employ the services of the students by Mmiting term paper assignments 
to subjects that benefit their personal needs, No doubt, such incidents have occured, 


as some students are shocked to read their own efforts printed under their profes- 
sors’ names, 

If status predominates their conciousness, then term papers also provide the heady 
educator with potential material for his ‘new’ degree thesis. This method almost 
insures non-detection, as few people can evaluate such degree thesis works for signs 
of plagiarism. The current rip-off rage of the last few years, is the emergence of 
black-oriented courses. For obvious reasons, much of the true psychological, cul- 
tural, environmental and social aspects of blacklife, has been inaccessible to white 
academicans, Since most courses of educational institutions are beginning to be 
overpopulated with degree-holding instructors, some seek less competitive fields 
for teaching jobs, 

By reading a few dozen books by Baldwin, DuBois and Fanon, the ‘foundation’ is 
provided for the white. degree-seeker to get a lightweight degree in an African/Black 
studies subject. With his ‘knowledge’ established, the instructor is now in the po-~ 
sition to tap richer sources from more intellectual black minds. Naturally, the 
term papers factor provides the catalyst for googobs of mind goodies] After a few 
more revelent books, and a little bit of good old plagiarismhere n’ there, another 
‘thesis’ appears out of nowhere for the instructor to get an even ‘heavier’ degree, 
Who sez you gotta marry one to know?l As ego-tripping expands to greater distan- 
ces, the ‘hip’ professor now reels ready to publish his new ‘revealing’ book, ‘All 

You Wanted To Know About Black Folks (But Was Too Afraid To Ask), Imagine being 
able to write three chapters on ‘the sexual morals of Black P, Stone Nation’ with- 
out venturing further south into the black ghetto than Hyde Park (Disneyland)! 

But, keep in mind that some black students are getting hip to the situation, Expect 
to see in the near future some rather funny books coming from a special group of 
white professors. about blacks . . , ‘cause some black students are now intentionally 
submitting term papers to those teachers, that are irrelevant, outdated, sterotyped 
and/or misconceptive! 


VWHY, THIS (S FANTASTIC! 
CORNBREAD & wAT ERMELON 
GIVES MIGRA MALES ' 
THEIR SUPER POTENCY! 


soe SERVES 
You RIGHT, 





cash, if the student is already a commodity, 
ready defunct, the corrupt act merely dramatives and deepens a corrupt situation, 








LIKE THE MAN says, everything equals cash equals everything. The purchase of a 
term paper reduces creativity to cash, repeating on a farcical level the overthrow 
of the aristocracy ( in this case, an intellectual elite) by the bourgeoisie (those with the 
money to buy a good grade), 

What is destroyed -- apart 
teacher-student relationship, which depends on trust. But if creativity already equals 


from a plece of the purchaser’s integrity -- is the 





if the teacher-student relationship is al- 











ROOSEVELT U. 1S QUT 
TO win vou OvER! 





DOES YOUR Come, 
[ [weep execurives 
OES Your BUREAU > kal 


KD BUREAUCRATS ? <2 










Buy a piece of RU, the full | 
service university! (Price list } 
for new colleges, departments |’ 
and interdisciplinary projects on |: 
request, ) 














Yes, we must end this commercialization, But where to begin? With the students who 

buy term papers or the companies which buy business schools? With those who ex- 

ploit themselves or with those who exploit others? The road to de-commercialization 

dares not lead backward toward the medieval university but forward, towards the free 

oe eee ae a peatators and faculty members pool their income from 
sources, an le it up on the basis of need, Then they can 

than their students.) : ett eee 












| 
j 
} 
} 






+ ++ ‘Hey, that’s real- 
ly right on, The whole thing is 
just a rip-off anyhow, right? I 
mean I’m working full-time, pay- 
ing high tuition because, like J 
need the degree, man. And my 
= ‘ofessor lays these chickenshit 
apers on us, and I know he 
Sette what's in them, So 
why 8 t we, you know, 
them off? Sik ae 














{If you want to rip yourself oft, go ahead, But don’t pl: e 
you’re just another whore in the ‘whorehouse,) Se Oe ercaloaary bere wher 





* * * 


(Telephone rings) ‘Hello, Mr. Grown, how are you? I’m fine, fine, » 
yes, sir, we’re moving against those term paper racketeers, Yes, we're Secs, 
we'll close *em down, don’t you worry...Oh, I agree entirely, people will do r- 
for money these days...,.,What’s that? Adonation for a new building? Well, ‘ 
overwhelmed, Mr. Grown. General Dynamics landed that contract - 
flame thrower? Congratulations! ||’ 





Bell’s soul session 
Heavy Hendrix, Malcolm memorial 


By Pedro Bell 

‘Rainbow — Bridge,’ a second 
movie featuring Jim! Hendrix, 
has apparently been delayed by 
the same legal hassles plaguing 
the first Hendrix flick, ‘Ex- 
perienced.’ To date, neither has 
‘been available for viewing in this 
area, 

However, the soundtrack LPs 
of both movies are available, The 
better record, ‘Rainbow Bridge,’ 
(Reprise MS 2040), features an 
assortment of musicians, ac- 
companying Hendrix at two studio 
and one live location, Members 
include: Ghetto Fighters, Buddy 
Miles and the Rosettes, support~ 
ing vocals; Billy Cox, bass; Juma 
Edwards, percussion; Buddy 
Miles and Mitch Mitchell, drums, 

‘Ths 1s Hendrix's first LP 
where be overdubs almost all of 
the songs with multipletracked 
guitar work, He plays thp lead, 
rhythm and occasion back- 
ground accessory tracks, The re- 
Sulting effect makes the LP in- 
strumentally Hendrix's best! 

“Dolly Dagger,’ the firsteut, ts 
& showy, heavy-handed tune 
whose lyrics cause male Us- 
teners to think of some Hotpants- 
wearing, mankiller mama thre: 


toning thelr martial status There 
is enough rhythm supplied to 
make ‘Dagger’ a danceable song, 
a rarity for Hendrix, The Ghetto 
Fighters (who all sound like Bud- 
dy Miles!) provide backgroun¢ 
vocals, 

‘Earth Blues’ 1s more charac 
teristically Hendrix, Again, ac- 
companying vocals (the Ronettes) 
sound like Miles singing an octave 
higher. 

‘An earthy instrumental track, 
“Pall Gap,’ is a Ught trip with 
Jimi overdubbing with an organ 
sounding guitar background. The 
lead guitar stint should blast aff 
any remaining ‘Eric-Clapton- 
was-better’ fanatics, 

SPACING OUT on a greasy 
carpet of bass and drums by 
Cox and Miles, Hendrix makes 
an eloquent thumper out of ‘Room 
Full Of Mirrors,’ which slowly 
dissolves to introduce the last 
song on the first side, another 
super-heavy Hendrix version of 
the good ole ‘Star Spangled Ban- 
ner,* 

‘The original song got electro- 
plated by the late Metal Monster 
Music Man, into a psychedelic 
funker that could, if righteously 


Played at full volume, bring out 
vibrations to make one feel down- 
Fight patriotic! Disgusting, ain’t 
it? Well, let’s assume that Hen- 
drix made the funkter version for 
the benefit of Woodstock Nation, 
So perbaps it could be consider- 
ed as the ‘Third World National 
Anthem.’ Anyway, the ‘song is 
completely composed of three or 
four Hendrix-manned guitars that 
will precisely kick your assi 

‘Look Over Yooder’ is a fast- 
paced stormy screecher that 
could pass for nail~scratching- 
on-a- blackboard set to music, 
and is a slight regression to the 
"Band of Gypsies’ days, Messy, 
but nice to hear, 

‘The album's only live re- 
cording is ‘Hear My Train A 
Coming,’ which demonstrates 
that Hendrix could play quality 
music outside the studio, This 


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Revealed for on first time... 
in this rn Motion Picture! 


ARARDDISIAG 


THE SEXUAL SECRET 
OF MARIJUANA” 


» TOPAR 5 Films ix 


See how to unlock the 


sexual secrets of the ages! 
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fem! 


372-2054 


[X) For aputrs omy, 


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CINESTAGE 


Pero eae 
Continuous from 9 a.m. 





58 





TORCH November |, 197! 13 


song is dead-center blues matter, 
an unusual uumber for the late 
acid-rock king. 

Finishing the album, ts, ‘ Hey 
Baby,’ which sounds like a re~ 
fined track of ‘Hey Joe, if the 
Ustener concentrates on the ba- 
sic melody of the song and com- 
pares the two, Its certainly 
musically better than the grunt 
simplicity of the latter, 

Phil Cohran is a Chicago mu- 
sictan/eomposer who has pro- 
duced independently on his own 
recording company, Zulu Rec- 
ords, 942 East 75th Street. His 
group, the Artistic Heritage En- 
semble, are featured on ‘The 
Malcolm X Memorial (A Tribute 
In MusicY (Zulu, 0007), Recorded 
live at the Afro-Arts Theater 
in 1868, the album’s a dynamite 
show of Cohranmanship, 

The ensemble consists of: 
Charles Handy, Chinese musette 
and trumpet; Willie Woods, trom- 
bone; Aaron Dodd, tuba; Master 
Henry Gibson, conga; Bob Crow= 
der, trap drums; Pete Cosey, 
guitar; Louis Satterfield, bass; 
Charles J, Williams, alto sax; 
Eugene Easton, tenor sax; and 
Donald Myrick, baritone sax, Phil 
Cohran is the producer/arranger 
and handles a bad cornet for-the 
group, E, Pearl Jackson supplies 
additional vocals on the album. 

The record is divided into four 
parts, each representing a seg- 
ment of Malcolm X's life, ‘Mal- 
colm Little? the first part, 
draws 2 musical analogy between 
child Malcolm and the condition 
of black people brought to Amer= 
ica as slaves: helpless, but with 
00d eyes and a clear ‘memory. 

A blues mood Is introduced by 
Pete Cosey, Aaron Dodd adds a 
heavy melody on tuba, and a flute 
solo is done by Eugene Easton, 
Escapism through drugs, self- 
abuse, and retection of the hick 
‘detroit Red.” 

Side 2 begins with Malcotmbe- 
coming aware of black values 
through the teachings and philo~ 
sophy of Elijah Muhammad 
hant by the 








ensemble donates to 2 flowing 
bass and tuba rhythm by Satter- 
field and Dodd, 4 comet solo by 
Cohran {s representative of Mal~ 
colm’s ability to rap. Following 
‘Malcolm X? is the longest and 
probably the heaviest cut on the 
album, ‘El Haj) Malik El 
‘Shabazz’ 

Chinese musette solo by Handy, 
represents the return of Malcolm 
@Black People) to the Eastern 
market place and ancient wisdom 
received in a pligrimage...conga 
solo by Master Gibson 
who we are through rhythm, 
Crowder on trap drums projects 
the confusion in the Audubon Ball~ 
room assassination and Sister 
Ella P, Jackson sings the ul- 
timate meaning of Malcolm's 
sacrifice--=Immortality,’ 

‘The record is a gem for all 
of those who missed the ensem- 
ble’s visit to RU last year. ‘The 
Cohran Artistic Heritage Em- 
semble is undoubtably one of the 
best groups of musicians in Chi- 
cago, They’re worth checking 
out, 








Since this will be a regular 
TORCH feature, this columnist 
finds it unnecessary to limit 
articles of cultural significance 
to recordings, Therefore, sub~ 
fects of non-musical topics are 
being planned to be included in 
every other article, Scheduled 
subjects being developed include; 
a review of black-ortented 
movies, Africobra---a black ar- 
tists’ commune, and a look at 
black Tvprograms, If you have 
any additional ideas, please write 
‘em down and send them to 
TORCH, Soul Session, Your 
co-operation will be appreciated, 
Catch you later! 


Campus mixer set 
An RU Campus Mixer ts sche- 
WES sponsoraa by the Biden Xz. 

tivities Office, the Mixer 18 op 

w all RU students 

thelr quests, Admission by st 

dent 1D. Must 








So pe Oo Weak Gece 


6 ----ta 


(ial Urea. ete, 


STEREO LP’s 
TRACK-CASSETTES 


COMPLETE LINE OF 


PANASONIC 


NO ONE SELLS 
ANASONIC FOR LES 


@)TCKETRON 


LECTRONIC BOX OFFICE 
— — GHICAGOLANDS CONCERT CENTER  _ 


3314 W. FOSTER 

CHICAGO 478-1490 

732 ELM ST 

WINNETKA 446-7343 
(Lower Level of t ¢ Feit Mall) 


$3.19 


REELS 
$4.95 


ates - ee 


















Guide to 
Special Effects 


“guitaresuit’” made for Dan 
Hartman of the Edgar Winter 
Group, a bodystailored jumpsuit 
made from silver stretch laurex, 
is complete with industrial- 
quality zippers, ripcords and 
electronic circuitry for a bass 
guitar built into it! The guitar 
uses Hartman’s abdominal cavity 
- for sound resonance, while con= 
Bod y Electric trols are built into arm and hand 
sections of the suit, The human 

While everyone iswtintogaudy guitar masterpiece sends sound 
dresswear, more groups these waves via a sophisticated FM 
days are becoming increasingly transmitter, which eliminates the 
aware of their physical appear- possibility of electrocution and 
ance, One Westcoast couturier, . also adds in mobility, since there 
Bill Witten of Workshop 29 has are no connecting cords, The 
designed outfits for suchperson= entire outfit valued at $5000 and 
alities as, Hugh Hefmer, Doc will undoubtably cause a sensa~ 
Severinsen and Elton John, His tion when the Edgar Winter Group 
most outstanding project is the goes on tour later this year, 


‘This edition of Monster Music 
is a departure from the usual 
format, Instead of you unfortunate 
readers being bored unto tears 
with superficial blabberings over 
records that cost to much to 
buy’... this article 1s for the 
musicians around who may be 
into various products on the mare 
ket. Other reports qn guitars in 
general, amps, synthesizers and 
recording equipment will appear 
in later issues, If you have any 
preferences or comments to 
make about such accessories, 
feel free to drop TORCH a line, 
chances are we’ll ignore your 
rap, but it’s the thought that 
counts... 





Singing the 






‘PHASE SHIFTERS: 
Left to Right: Roland 
Phase 5, Maestro 

& Electro-Harmonix Units 



















Music instrument development 
is beginning to change the look 
and sound of rock music, The 
Thomas Organ Company of Chi- 
cago have recently unveiled a 
new product called, the “Stereo 
Wahfuzz Pedal ,,, which pro» 
duces automatic stereo effects 
between two or more amplifiers, 
‘This pedal is compatible with 
all instruments, and should close 
the distance between the sound 
quality of studio and live music, 
Portable sound systems are also 
coming into production, There’s 
the *Mike Matthew Freedom Amp 
manufactured by ElectroeHare 
monix, which isregardedas the 
world’s most powerful portable 
unit, It has a true output of a 
conservatively rated 55 watts 
RMS and a teneinch heavy duty 
speaker, The best attribute to 
the Freedom Amp, 1s its avall~ 
ability in AC, AD»DC, and De 
models, The Dcsoperated units 
function on internallyemounted 
flashlight (D) batteries with a 
GAtt for Inds abpiving hustevars 
who want to take thelr sounds 
with them. A even smaller unit, 
is the battery-operated‘ Pignose 
Amp’ It is smaller than most 
portable tape recorders, but tas 
@ startling output that is capable 
of filling a medium sized room! 
The DCs»power amp can also be 
connected to regular amps to 
increase their power; it’s availe 
able in local music shops for 
under $100, 





MUSICIAN'S CHOICE 


Maestro BOOMERANG Pedal 
Foxx DOWN MACHINE Pedol 


Morley Echo/yowume peoar 
Moestro FUZZ PHAZZER Pedal 
Foxx 0.D, MACHINE Pedal 
Electro, Harmonix Crying Tone Pedal 


Morley Rotating / Wah / Fuzz Pedal 
Foxx CLEAN MACHINE Pedol 


Vox / Thomas “Stereo Fuzz / Woh Pedal 


LEFT: 


Matthew 


Freedom 
Amp 


Multi-Woh effects 


Boss—Wah 
Echo, 





olume & sustain 
Fuzz, wah, phose shift 
Sustain & distortion 
4-way wah 
Rotating speaker effect 
Sustoin unit 


First true stereo pedol 





Everyone’s familiar with the 
spatial whoosh-effect heard on 
many recordings, and units are 
now available to the musician to 
duplicate those sounds, The most 
versatile phase shifters are 
manufactured by Maestro, MXR 
and ElectroeHarmonix Maestro’s 
unit has three fixed speeds, (an 
optional foot control is available) 
and is designed to be mounted 
within reach on a microphone 





Here is a partial list of deal-~ 
ers in this city, and with the exe 
ception of one of the downtown 
places, the personnel are friendly 
and knowledgeable with the pro= 
ducts that they sell, Most of 
them have all of the products 
mentioned in this article, or can 
order them for you inside of one 
week, 





SOUTH 


Jon's Just Music 3842 W. 


3209 W. 


stand, The MXR dnit is 4 sing 
box with two controls; i 
foot switch and a phase~speed 
knob, ElectrowHarmonixts “Bad 
Stone” has three knobs that can 
be set at a variable speeds and 
depths of phase coloration, More 
information on the various phase 
shifters can be found in the Dec, 
1974 issue of Guitar Player Me 
gazine, 


Guitar Sustainers: Again;>~E- 
lectroeHarmonix comes through, 
with their “Black Finger’, I 
gives pure sustain with no dis- 
tortion and enhances chords as 
well as single notes. Foxx thoes 
a slick trick by putting their 
sustain innard into their “clean 
machine” offers distorted, feed= 
back effects in its circuitry, 





Being a musicfan myself, I 
appreciate these places more 
when the store clerks don’t ade 
here to only the highestepriced 
merchandise, if my needs arenot 
that necessary, Some offer trade~ 
in policies and even credit plans, 
Check them out, 





79th 767-3020 
95th 767-0027 





DC AMP MODEL FEH-6001 















Most Foveciy single, speaker battery aparated amp in the ward! on 
‘10-inch special ta Cosimned, Neavy-cuty speak cam with 2 inpet, acne. 
Batteries give v4.t0 hours of playing en single set of D-celis. 
Dimensions: 17V5" 3 Y¢" x84". Weight: 04° pounds” Wattes $5. 
eae MODEL stH-$003 

s eff of regular household current. Has bulltin eoptacie. 
Comes with detachable cord. Has same basle character moe except 





weight is only 27 pounds. 


i Aur MODEL #EH-4002 

Powerful single speaker: combination ACYDC oatveryoptrated ‘amp in the 
id! Comb! W the eharact . 

tiedels, Dimensions te ike some’ Womatrr as tee ne 17a 6 











ABOVE: Pignose 
Amp Runs on 


Al ae Rattoriac 


59 


Progress Music 6601 S. Pulaski 585-7066 


Zap Music 3454 West Fullerton 489-2644 
Associated Music 7511 W. Belmont 889-7426 


Ne 


DOWNTOWN 

Jack Cecchini 222 $. Wabash 939-4557 
Guitar Gallery 216 South Wabash (2nd, Floor) HA7-0423 . 
Sid Shermar Music: 226 S. Wabash A2FAUT9E. 


NORTH 
| 
{ 
{ 











HEART 





S§BMEBMBWhen | got this email from "Joe Elliott" I thought, I don't know, this is some 
random dude in Ireland. "Joe Elliott." There must be a MILLION of them. He was a fan 
of a certain obscure Glam singer, named "Jobriath" that I ran fansite for, so we talked 
about that, and that was it. I sent him a couple CDs of rarities and forgot about it. At the 
time I was really wrapping up all interest in the subject. For nearly a year, Jobriath had 
made my life pure hell, which might've been exactly what I was looking for, but it had 
become too much . . . as in TOO MUCH. It was too much explaining to people that I, an 
enormously promising young writer, had chosen as the subject of my first book a weird 
wannabe rock singer who made one stab at fame & was dismissed as a David 
Bowie/Ziggy Stardust clone who'd never done anything else in his life, except die (of 


60 





EAs 


By Jonathan Poletti 


AIDS). I didn't want to tell 
anybody, ever again, that he was 
homosexual. (Typical reply: 
"Oh...") And I certainly didn't 
want ANYTHING to do with his 


fans. Joe was nice but a lot of 


them tended to be, how shall I 
put it? Not. They're mean, and 
sick. Most, apparently, were gay. 
I just wanted to round them up 
into Sodom & light it up again. 
The queen bee, my nemesis & 
antagonist, the dog at my throat, 
was an organism named John 
Michael Cox, Jr., a piddling 
photographer /pornographer 
who'd had brief contact with 
Jobriath, then in recent years had 
angled himself as the priest of an 
online cult of "followers." He 
apparently resented any 
crowding on his turf, since at my 
entrance he reared up in fits of 
online ranting. People all over 
started emailing, "Why is he 
saying all those horrible things 
about you?" I felt like I'd been 
dumped out into a gladitorial 
ring, with a lunatic beating his 
chest and lunging for me, while 
the crowd roared. I'd check 
Cox's site & find long 
descriptions (?) of me, like this: 
"A Nobody who lives in a void, 
a vicious queen who has no life, 
acon artist, a compulsive liar, a 
thief, a criminal, a psycho . . ." 
Some of that I agree with, but 
not all. There was no 
responding. Nothing he said was 
factual. Other "Jobriath people," 
I discovered, lived in fear of 
him, noting their 
incomprehension at his behavior, 
but unwilling to say anything 
publicly lest they join me in the 
ring. Cox, I found out, was 
writing long, angry letters to 
anyone he knew who was 
remotely a biographical source, 
warning or threatening them 








JOBRIATH + JOE ELLIOT = 


JOE- BRIATH 


against speaking to me. And 
then — my favorite part — my 
brother (EX-brother) found Cox's 
site, printed it out & sent it to my 
parents, and anyone else he 
could think of, with commentary 
about how I needed to "Repent." 
What you have to know about 
Christian fundamentalists is they 
know how to attack. He combed 
through my site, pronouncing it 
"unacceptable." "There has been 
a growing poison in our family 
that needed to be purged, if for 
notime else than for my children 
— as my parents received 
his accumulating charges and 
were pressed, reluctantly, into a 
defense of the story I was 
planning to tell. "Jon insists it 
must be told in all its reality." 
But in reality, I didn't. 1 saw 
suddenly that nobody wanted 
this particular life to be told: not 
gays in their craving of 
affirmations, not "normal" 
people who'd distance 
themselves from all that he was. 
But then I got a surprise! Joe's 
accounting firm in California 
(??) had sent me a $50 check. 
"You seem like a real fan," he 
said, cheerfully. I used the 
money toward renewing my site 
for another year, intending to 
abandon it. I packed my files 
into storage and moved away, 
wanting never to write anything 
again. THEN a couple months 
later I was reading an issue of 
Classic Rock magazine and on 
the cover was the lead singer of 
Def Leppard. His name was 
strangely familiar. "Shoot," I 
thought, "I could've scored an 
autograph or something." I tried 
to find his email, but had lost it, 
so pulled up my Jobriath website 
for the first time in forever and 
whined about it, saying I thought 
"Joe Elliot" of Def Leppard was 
a big fan! Then he wrote back! 
"Busted!" he said, very 
cheerfully, and explained that his 





Hy ‘ 
=P ‘s re. 

band was working on an album of cover songs and he wanted to do something by 
Jobriath, which was fun. A Jobriath cover had never been done (unless that rumor about 
a disco "Street-Corner Love" is true). The track wasn't intended for the album itself, Joe 
explained, but for a B-side or something. He and I emailed on occasion, so | knew way 
before most earthlings that his cover of "Heartbeat" (off Jobriath's 2nd LP) was in the 
can. "It sounds pretty good," Joe said. He'd done the ‘heartbeat’ sound by beating on his 
chest. I kept up with public announcements about the album. It was called Yeah! — a 
good title, I thought, though I slightly preferred Oh No! Joe seemed interested, so | 
updated him on my biographical research, which had started up again. Jobriath's good 


6l 





reviews, I'd found out, had turned really (REALLY) bad only 
after David Bowie's management team had decided to (quote) 
"crush" him. They'd pulled strings with music journalists to get 
nasty reviews. Names were named. "I know this goes on all the 
time," Joe sympathized, though he said he'd personally prefer 
to crush not musicians but certain journalists. I totally agreed. 
I'd like to crush them all. Joe was so generous & nice, offering 
to pay to have Jobriath's 3rd album mixed & also pay to have 
several 'new' songs I'd located in the Library of Congress dug 
up, which was AMAZING, except I couldn't even get replies 
from relevant parties — that thunderously silent 'No' which is 
never far from the world's first openly gay popstar. 
Embarassed, I didn't even reply to Joe. My research had 
slowed, as new queries weren't replied to, leads vanished & 
several people who were closest to him wouldn't talk to me, or 
would only in that fleeting, anxious tone I had come to 
recognize so well. The war with Cox was still on, but now I 
was winning. A few "Jobriath people" openly admonished him. 
Suddenly, his site was gone. J missed him! | had realized that 
sources who are silent about Jobriath's life, like journalists who 
lie about him, like Cox in his loud torrents or even "religious" 
morons like my brother, are in place, like a neurosis, to protect 
a truth from being disclosed. I felt from Jobriath's life profound 
waves of violation. He had been something one should not be. I 
sat trying to begin my book, all my favorite scenes in hand — 
Jobriath slashing himself screaming he's possessed by the 
devil, Jobriath at clubs in total drag drugged out of his mind, 
Jobriath trying to throw himself out of a window when his 
career flopped, Jobriath drunk at bathhouses, Jobriath wasting 
away so that by the end, at age 36, he looked like an old man 
— and I couldn't even begin. Far from being an "enormously 
promising" anything, | was what everyone is: looking at life, 
anyone else's or certainly, your own, with nothing of any 
relevance to say. ANYWAY, a couple days ago, there it was. 
"Heartbeat" had been released on a Yeah! "bonus CD" 
available only at Wal-Mart. So I stood in line, feeling the 
absurdity of standing in line to buy a song by one of the oddest 
talents Pop had ever produced, as the bored checker rang me 
up. Then it was mine. But when I got home & slipped the CD 
in the player I couldn't help feeling . . . disappointed? "You're a 
voice on the street / You're the faces that I meet" — words 
booming out of Jobriath's tortured throat were totally unfit for 
the glossy sound of one of the world's biggest bands. "Like 
children we have left/ And played the game you and me / But 
have you seen me cry?" Jobriath sang it really convincingly, 
each phrase weirdly disconnected from the last, like a 
hideously self-estranged creature looking back on his life & 
feeling utter loss. Joe, however, strung it all together as if the 
words actually made sense, then on the last line ("Have you 
seen me cry?") he changed the notes around so it sinks into a 
minor key or something, and sort of deflates. Jobriath really 
WANTED you to know he cried. His major obsession in life 
was to be a PUBLIC SPECTACLE OF AGONY, and he did a 
great job! I had several good scenes of him crying, like after 
fleeing a stadium in New York after a concert where the 
audience started screaming "faggot!" — he was hauled away, 


62 


past a huge mirror that he smashed, then outside collapsed in 
tears. Jobriath knew how to cry, publicly, and Joe, clearly, did 
not. He seemed like a nice, decent man. But it takes courage to 
be a freak, and he just didn't have it. I was steeling myself for a 
pleasant little note or something, wondering whether, if I wrote 
about my dislike, would Joe then see me as one of the 
Journalists he'd like to "crush"?? It was so ungrateful, ME [ 
mean, but I just could not like the song. I played it again. It's 
like Joe is singing to a girl, like it's a man trying to expose his 
inner self to a female — a REALLY big mistake, in my view. 
A boy revealing his inner self to a girl is like reading a 
newspaper to a dog. There's just a lack of comprehension. 
Jobriath's genius is that he wasn't singing to anybody. He was 
profoundly estranged from the human race — an honest & 
brave stance! Inside ourselves, we are all alone. The song is 
certainly "about" something, in my view, as aI have a lot of 
irrelevant views. "Heartbeat" is about his mother, the major 
obsession of his life (totally bizarre for a gay dude, I know). A 
heartbeat is what a baby hears as it floats inside the womb. 
Once he'd been outed, though, as in "born," Jobriath's mom 
hadn't wanted much to do with him. She left the family when 
he was a kid. As a teenager he kept throwing himself at her & 
she'd shut the door in his face. But the song is saying that even 
when she tries to flee, they're linked by the same heart, and that 
link is unbreakable. The one hitch was that his mom hadn't, to 
my knowledge, ever nearly died, so how to explain the most 
haunting line in the song? "Once I believe I saw you dying yet 
you remain to me the same mystery" — which Joe just rushes 
through. But, I thought, maybe Jobriath is referring to himself? 
He had died. His original self, the child he was, had died. After 
becoming "Jobriath," he'd tell people, "Bruce is dead." Though 
I suddenly realized the line, too, might describe his view of 
Jesus Christ. As a teenager he'd been an intense Christian, then 
fallen away, but in concerts he'd stand onstage as if crucified, 
head bowed in exhaustion & pain, arms outstretched as if 
nailed to a cross. If you ask me, that's the gay psyche in a 
nutshell: Mom & Jesus. The hair gel, designer jeans & lead role 
in the high school musical all come much later. What Def 
Leppard, of all groups, was doing in this particular psychic 
terrain was anybody's guess. Even the way the two tracks 
generated the sound of a heartbeat — Jobriath by sampling his 
heart, and Joe by thumping on his chest, Tarzan-like — was the 
difference between a great singer & a successful one: one rips 
his chest open, and the other one taps on it. Then I put on 
Jobriath's "Heartbeat." It was so good. I turned it way up & lay 
in bed listening to the strangled sounds, happy that my 
neighbors could hear it too. The world needed to hear 
something this wretched. It's the sound of an inner self, I 
thought, which he somehow had captured, and which, 
naturally, horrified everyone. His subject is an inspiring one: 
the solitary reaching-out we do to people who do not care. 
Every extension of ourselves that we make is beat back. And 
why not? Whoever you are, you're pathetic. You deserve it. The 
song played a bunch of times, and then for whatever reason | 
put Joe's version back on. I was now in a heightened state of 
listening, and this time . . . heard more? It was better somehow. 


A notable power gathered around Joe's phrasing of "your 
heartbeat" and "my heart." He was really reaching out to 
somebody, in a way that was simple, honest, and I thought, you 
know, it might actually work! His voice grows gravelly, 
straining to make the connection. I was growing somewhat 
alarmed, actually. | put Jobriath's version back on again, and 
heard, suddenly, something I hadn't before. Whenever he says 
"heart" he puts a twang on it, like Southern or Cockney or 


_ something in between, as if to encase "heart" in irony & role- 


playing, i.e. "the game." The song was strangely, newly false. 
SUDDENLY, a hideous thesis burst into my brain, like an 
aneurysm. Maybe all men must access their hearts through a 
woman. Gay guys do it through their moms, and straight guys 
do it through a girl. Why you'd do either, I don't know, but the 
results of each were there before me: Joe was extending 
himself honestly, with a directness of "heart," and Jobriath was 
not. I played his "Heartbeat" again & again, and now heard 
posing, and falseness. The only word he sings with any 
directness is "me." He was so gay. That means a psyche with 
nowhere to go, except inside itself. His music was the echoes 


of old, disconnected sounds, pulled out of childhood memory 





& written into songs. But he cared about nobody, even himself. 
There's this stupid story about Jobriath, the man, dying alone, 
his body rotting for days. Journalists in major magazines 
simply invented the details (the body was rotting, the door was 
beat down by cops who gagged on the smell, etc.) — none of 
which was true. Jobriath did not die alone, forgotten, etc. But 
the final focus on his dead body was a public statement of his 
life, and so of homosexuality, containing all that a P.C.- 
scrubbed discourse will not allow to be said: There was no life. 
"He started off a corpse," as Souxsie Sioux once said. J couldn't 
write his biography. There was no biography to write. He'd 
lived a death. It was night out. It seemed like I should get up & 
develop the thoughts more, but they'd mostly stopped & 
thinking them over, they weren't anything. It didn't matter. 
Whoever is on that course, will continue. My words are 
insufficient. I turned off the stereo & lay in bed, longing, 
strangely enough, to write Joe again, but not knowing what to 
say, or what he could possibly say in reply. It was much easier 
to fall asleep. 











; pana Den 
FAT THE SPEED OF TWISTED THOUGHT... 


Alll right. The Fix. It's about time somebody put this back out. The Effigies, Fix, 

and Toxic Reasons were the first rumblings of a true punk/HC underground 
explosion between the coasts. The Fix were a darker hardcore invention 

than the DC or OC sound or even Discharge. We played with them three “4 
times - twice in San Francisco and once at an oversize movie theater in “.™ 
Fresno. Live they came off like a sonic jet engine or a blender. The harder 

core than thou crowd just stood there confused. Craig called mé and asked 

if Alternative Tentacles could put out a 7-song 12" of what became the 
“Jan's Rooms” EP. Unfortunately we had to decline because things were 

in disarray and we didn’t have the money. Big regret. | miss ‘em to this day 


-Jello Biafra, DKs/Alternative Tentacles, etc. 
January 2006 


www.touchandgorecords.com 
y Ot fe Chu a 5 $, Sat 300-s-TOUeUtoam Spm cat Monday Friday to place credit card orders 


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THE FINAL CURTAIN 


Genticman John Battles is a great fan of all and a good friend to many of the legends of 
Rock & Roll. Hore he pays final respects to some of his favorite artists who have 
recently made the transition from mortal to immortal?:, 


Buck Owens - The first thing I did, when I heard the news about the late, 
great Buck Owens, was put on the excellent Rhino box set and gather my 
thoughts. Yes, I have enough of Buck's (remarkably consistent) vinyl output 
to reduce such an action to cheating on some level, but, I really wanted to 
just cut to the chase. What I was quickly reminded of was the fact that it's 
damned difficult to get sad listening to Buck Owens, even it's as a sendoff, 
for Buck, into the next life (where his name is, no doubt, written in gold at 
the top of the V.L-P. lists for both Hillbilly and Rock n’ Roll Heaven). Even 
Buck's sadder songs have a glimmer of hope to them, and while his boss 
sequined suits are now as much the stuff of legend as his music itself, none 
of them could glitter and sparkle like the buoyant and brilliant guitar sound 
that was his, Solid Country gold. He made it sound simple, presumably so 
that even people with minimal, or no, musical training wouldn’t find it 
intimidating, but it was anything BUT simple. Owens mastered his 
instrument, it did not master him. As a singer, he was comparable to George 
Jones, in that we was just as much at ease caressing a ballad, or belting out 
an uptempo number that could easily make converts out of doubting Rn’ R 
fans (in fact, Jones recorded kickass Rockabilly sides as Thumper Jones, and 
Owens did the same as Corky Jones. Besides that, he did studio work with 
Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps, and played in Wanda Jackson's band, 
along with Big Al Downing). As Rockers who are making the transition to 
Country are concerned, the "Big Three" are usually Johnny Cash, Hank 
Williams, and George Jones, Country artists with a beat. Well, if that's you, 
don't rule out early Tennessee Ernie Ford, Conway Twitty, Hank Thompson, 
Hank Snow, Bob Luman, Del Reeves, and, of course, Buck Owens. 
Together, they'll make the jump from Rock ‘n’ Roll to Country seem a lot 
less scary, and you won't have to give up one for the other, because it all 
breaks down the same way, as long as it's good music. Buck never had to be 
a slave to one genre, even after he'd made a written pledge to "Do no song 
that is not a Country song.” He followed up on this promise by covering 
























"Johnny B. Goode,” and recording the fuzztone-laden "Who's Gonna Mow 
Your Grass?” Purists were outraged, even though many would argue that 
Chuck Berry is just as Country as Buck's immediate peers. Besides, "Mow 
Your Grass" sounds like a dream collaboration between Lee Hazelwood and 
Michael Nesmith, and, if that ain't Country, I'll kiss your ass. Owens 
expressed his discontentment with the contrived, often soulless, music 
Nashville was churning out by this time, and he became an entity separate 
from the Country music establishment. Known as the "Bakersfield Sound,” 
Buck's music burned that much brighter in his adopted home of California, 
some 1000 miles from "Music City,” but grown naturally, not tainted by the 
pretensions of an industry that was losing sight of it's ideals. Buck Owens 
boiled down the myriad influences that became his muse into a single shot, 
calling it simply, "American Music.” He'd go on to be accosted by "fans,” 
who'd ask, "What's the matter? Isn’t Country music good enough for you?” 
There's almost a hint of anti-Americanism in questioning Buck's loyalty this 
way, truth be told. Buck went, of course, from hit records to the hit TV 
show, Hee Haw, cohosted by fellow string maestro, Roy Clark. The show 
brought County to the city in a fun-loving way. It even spawned a Jewish- 
themed parody LP, called "Hoo Ha,” which featured Bill Dana ("Jose 
Jiminez"), Bernie Koppell ("The Love Boat"), the recently departed Don 
Knotts, and even Buck Owens himself! In later years, Owens lay low, but he 
was persuaded to join Dwight Yoakum on a 1988 tour. After that. he 
basically stopped touring, preferring to play at his own club in Bakersfield 
(FOR FIVE BUCKS A HEAD!!!). Reportedly, he'd had heart trouble, and it 
was easier to work closer to home. Owens also recorded duets with 
Yoakum, Emmylou Harris, and Ringo Starr, who'd previously drawn 
attention to Buck by covering "Act Naturally" with the Beatles (but, you 
knew that). Buck returned the favor by putting on a good natured Beatle 
parody with his band, The Buckaroos, Beatle wigs and all! The two recorded 
a remake of "Act Naturally,” and it worked out better than anyone had a 


DOW. wi MAYBERRY 
1 
KNOTS AFTER DARK?” 


= Mop 
BE Opie's SWITCHBLADE 
a iors of CONTROL!” 

















“THE FUN GIRLS ARE RUNNING 
4 PROSTITUTION RINGI” 


“RAFEJHOLLISTER'S 
CouKIN’ CRYSTAL 
L METH!” 


“THAT New FARMER 
COULD BE GROWING 


| MARIJUANA... 
OR SOME OTHER 
ILLEGAL ‘CRop* 


BARNEY ACTUALLY SAID 
THIS ON T.V. ONCE... t7 
USUALLY GETS DELETED, 


JOHN "No THANKS, LEON, 
| D0N"T WANNA BiTe OF 
YouR SANDWICH BATTLES. 


GomER’s PUNK ASS IS GoING DoWNI! 
HE MADE ACITIZEN'S ARREST oN Mer 














right to expect, with Ringo even hitting some impressive high notes. A little 
later, still, Buck added his signature leads to a track by veteran Austin Roots 
Rockers, The Leroi Bros. (pron. "Luh-ROY,” by the way). The group's 
drummer, also a Buck (Mike Buck, that is, though everyone calls him 
"Buck"), confirmed my suspicions that Owens' guitar parts were recorded 
separately and dubbed in later, but, still, what a red, white and blue sequined 
feather in their cap! In 1993, Owens underwent surgery for throat cancer, 
and he'd contracted pneumonia in 1997, but, as of this writing, it has not 
been made publicly known what the cause of death was. We do, however, 
know the end result of his passing: Much sadness, followed by precipitations 
of joy brought on by Buck Owens' music, itself. 

Don Knotts - There's one, scene in the Ghost World movie where Enid 
brings a picture of Don Knotts (lovingly rendered by Robert Crumb's 
daughter) to Art class as part of an assignment. Her teacher asks, "Why Don 
Knotts?,” expecting some deep, meaningful, explanation in regards to her 
choice of subject matter.."I dunno ...[ just like Don Knotts.” What more 
reason do you need? Don Knotts’ greatness didn’t register with everyone, 
but. those who got it, knew. I have to say I've been pleased with what I've 
read in the media. in the event of his passing. The writers and critics have 
not reduced him to a one-trick pony in their estimation, nor have they been 
modest in their praise, calling him a wholly credible everyman, as well as a 
comic genius. We ALL loved Don Knotts. "One Bullet Barney" may have 
been slow on the draw, but Knotts seldom was when it came to producing 
laughs. It's hard to believe, but he once depended on somebody else to get 
the laughs. Not another comedian, but a ventriloquist dummy. He got his 
start performing locally with a dummy called Danny, with whom he 
performed in the Special Services Unit, entertaining troops during World 
War II, Later, Knotts decided to go into standup comedy. The world lost a 
competent ventriloquist, I'd wager, but gained one of its most beloved 
funnymen. Don Knotts met Andy Griffith when the two worked in the 
Broadway production of "No Time For Seargents,” followed by the movie 
version, in which the young Griffith and Knotts formed both a lifelong 
friendship and a comic duo with dynamics comparable to Gleason and 
Carney. If they never had you damn nearly pissing your pants with laughter, 
my friend, then you have no soul. After doing a stint on The Tonight Show 
with Steve Allen, Knotts hooked up with Griffith once again, on the TV 
show that would prove to be not an albatross for either actor, but rather a 
vanguard of 20th Century American culture. The long range appeal of The 
Andy Griffith Show has since spread all over the world, gathering fans who 
know, as we do, that Mayberry is not a town, it is a state of mind. As 
"Fearless Fife,” Don Knotts nearly stole the show from a cast of outstanding 
support actors, though his brand of comedy always worked because he 
didn’t fight with Griffith, nor their co-stars, for his share of the spotlight. He 
seemed a natural in the part that made him famous, though those closest to 
him (like his wife) would insist that he was not as gullible, nor naive, as his 
characterization of Barney Fife. In reality, he maintained a professional 
persona while still exuding the warmth he conveyed in the role of Fife. 
Interestingly, when the show began, Andy and Barney were portrayed as 
cousins. That idea was quickly "nipped in the bud,” perhaps because Sherrif 
Taylor's appointment of Barney Fife as his Deputy smacked of nepotism, or, 
maybe if they ended up dating the same girls (didn’t happen), things could 
have gotten weird. Either way, it didn’t seem to make sense to have the two 
characters appear as relatives, Barney fancied himself as a swinging "man 
about town" with no known family (but, of course, eventually, a steady girl 
in Thelma Lou) in the area, while the widower Taylor lived at home with his 
son, Opie, played by a young Ron Howard (but, I trust, you knew that 
already) and his meddlesome Aunt Bee, played by the late Francis Bavier. 
Knotts left an indelible mark in the annals of sitcommunism, and won an 
Emmy for Best Supporting Actor, not once, but five times in a row. The 
Andy Griffith Show went on to be filmed in color, in Don's absence, which 
proved a crippling blow to the show's humor content, though he did make a 
few guest appearances (no doubt, in an effort to improve ratings), From 
there, Knotts made a number of films, largely aimed at children, such as The 
Incredible Mr. Limpet, The Reluctant Astronaut, and The Shakiest Gun In 
The West, eventually teaming up with Tim Conway in The Apple Dumpling 
Gang, No Deposit, No Return, and others, for Disney. In 1979, he took over 
the role of the landlord on Three's Company from Norman Fell (who, 
unfortunately, was far better suited for the part). The show, by then, was 
"Jumping The Shark,” anyway, but lasted until 1984 (!). As Ralph Furley, 


Knotts once again played the part of an (admittedly aging) "swinging 
bachelor,” in a wardrobe’ that made Hefb Tarlick's look positively tasteful. 
Later on, Knotts was reunited with Griffith, in a recurring role on the 
popular, generally laff-free series, Matlock (editor's note Matlock is 
hilarious). The two also reprised their greatest roles in Return To Mayberry, 
one of the better TV "reunion" movies, though, it, too, wasn’t real big on 
laughs. In it, Barney Fife has long since replaced his pal, Andy, as Sheriff of 
Mayberry, though an impending election shows his popularity to be on the 
wane. Andy, not surprisingly, is now married to Helen Crump, and is seen 
talking to his now-deceased Aunt Bee at her gravesite. | was really hoping 
he'd say, “Aint Bea, thar's somethin’ I couldn't tell ya while yew was 
livin'...BUT, WE HATED THOSE PICKLES!!! WE USED TA CALL 'EM 
"KEROSENE CUCUMBERS!” Francis Bavier, herself, still had a few years 
left in her, but, refused to work with Griffith, for reasons he never quite 
understood, though the two reportedly made peace before Bavier died. Andy 
turns to find Barney's long-estranged Thelma Lou, convinces her to give 
Barney another chance, and the two eventually marry, upon Barney's return 
to public favor, and re- election. But, it goes without saying, Don Knotts 
will never fall out of favor. It bears mentioning, that while Don Knotts was 
never known for his singing abilities (though he did sing the cool novelty 
theme song to "Mr. Limpet"), and much fun was made of Barney's inability 
to carry a tune (" He's the man I want to be the father of my children, but, 
can he sing?! NOT A LICK!!"-Thelma Lou), "The Andy Griffith Show" 
influence on Rock ‘n’ Roll and (surprisingly, less so) Country music is quite 
pronounced, with band names like Mayberry LSD, Mt. Pilot, The Darlings 
and others, plus songs like "Moving To Mt. Pilot,” written by the late Stu 
Coy for the underrated Chicago Roots/Punk group, Oncoming Traffic, "Nip 
it in The Bud,” by longstanding Chicago Rockabilly / Country group, The 
Riptones, my own "Back Off,-Bitch Kitty" (Inspired, in part, by the top- 
rated "Citizen's Arrest" episode of "The Andy Griffith Show"), and a really 
hilarious BR549 song about Andy and Opie going down to the fishin’ hole to 
smoke pot. My friend, Gary Davis (late. of the Chicago Misfits/Victims), : 
told me that there used to be a group of people who'd turn up at O'Bannion's, | 
the early Chicago Punk haven, dressed as Mayberry characters! They had an 
Andy, a Barney, a Thelma Lou, etc., but, when I asked him, "So, Did they 
have an Otis?” he replied, "Funny you should mention it. They came up to 
me one night at O'Bannion's, and told me they'd put it to a vote, and decided 
they wanted me to be their Otis...” Gary declined the honor, but as surely as 
Barney had a hit Rockabilly song called "Thelma Lou" (OK, he didn’t), that 
little corner of the world called Mayberry, North Carolina, that exists only in 
your mind, keeps riiiight on a'turnin'. Yep. Sure does. 

Al Lewis - What's remarkable about the late, great Al Lewis is not that he 
became typecast as the loveable, cackling, vampire/mad scientist hybrid, 
Grandpa Munster, but the fact that he reveled in being typecast. He was able 
to sustain a 40-year career on one comical role that he played on television 
for two years, wearing more hats than a Hydra could bear. When he wasn’t 
on TV or in the movies, he could be found on talk radio (he was a favorite 
on Howard Stern’s show. Even Stern found Lewis’ ribald yocabulary a 
challenge!), or hosting his own radio show, or as a syndicated Horror host 
(as "Grandpa,” in Munster-like attire and trappings, though Universal would 
not let him use the famous surname or distinctive makeup), or schmoozing 
with Rock stars (Lewis became fast friends with, among others, the 
Ramones. They hooked up thru Phil Spector), becoming a restaurant owner 
(Grandpa's, in Manhattan, served Italian, not Jewish, cuisine, interestingly 
enough) and even entering the political arena. He'd run for Mayor and 
Governor of New York, respectively (if anyone has a campaign sticker or 
button they'd be willing to part with, your next two issues are on me). No 
rest for the wickedly funny. I was just as surprised as some of you to learn 
that Lewis actually stood 6'l,” and got his start playing basketball, even 
becoming a well-respected basketball scout for years to come. He dropped 
the ball, so to speak, and hit the stage, just as Burlesque and Vaudeville's 
next of kin were being notified. Television was the next step, and Lewis 
landed the part of Officer Leo Schnauzer on Car 54, Where are You?, a 
show that was not only one of the most hilarious of it's day (need | ask? 
Where's the box set?!), but, in it's way, one of the most progressive, too. 
Nearly every ethnic group in New York was represented, in passing, or in 
full. The recently deceased Nipsey Russell was never their "token Black 
guy,” but a respected member of the force, and a friend to all the guys on it. 
Though Lewis and the mighty, mighty Joe E. Ross's characters may not have 





been openly Jewish, they never strayed far from the 
Borscht Belt (there is a touching episode where Officer 
Muldoon, played by the late, great Fred Gwynne, and 
Officer Toody (Ross) are in a tizzy, trying to round up 
people to attend their young buddy, Joey's, Bar Mitzvah. 
Joey's self-doubting Dad fears that no one wants to come, 
but the boys at the 53rd precinct prove him wrong). 
Interestingly enough, Al got his start on the program 
playing a member of a car-fencing operation that 
inadvertently gets commissioned by Toody and Muldoon to 
turn a stolen civilian car into a temporary Police vehicle 
An elderly couple, thinking it's their new purchase at the 
used car lot (with whom Lewis is in cahoots), says "That's 
the wrong color. We wanted green! We LIKE green." (It's 
funnier than it looks on paper). Soon, Lewis "reformed" 
and fought on the right side of the law, aided, of course, by 
Ross and Gwynne. The law usually lost, even when it won, 
and an unsung TV classic was born. The unstoppable 
comedy team of Al Lewis and Fred Gwynne soon found 





themselves working together again, under the direction of 


Car 54's comic genius, Nat Hiken. This show could have 
been an albatross that for the whole of Lewis' 40-plus year 
career, but he played the hand that was dealt him and never 
looked back. The Munsters became an instant hit, despite 
tough competition from The Addams Family, which also 
debuted the same week, in September of '64. Fans of both 
shows are quick to argue over which was the better 
program (with The Addams Family usually coming out 
ahead). To that. | say, who cares? It's like arguing The 
Stones over The Beatles. While I lean toward The Stones, 
the point is, each group saw the other as a necessity, and 
maintained a cordial and diplomatic relationship. Wouldn’t 
the Addams and Munsters families have done the same? 
(For the record, I love both shows, but still prefer The 
Munsters.) At any rate, after the show went off the air, to 
be followed, just like Batman, with a full-length feature 
film, in color, called Munster, Go Home, which included 
the original TV cast, with the additions of Debbie Watson 
(who took over the role of Marilyn, Herman and Lily's 
"challenged" niece, previously played by lovely lookalikes, 
Beverly Owen and Pat Priest), Hermione Gingold, hilarious 
and effeminate English comic Terry-Thomas, and the 
underrated, as always, John Carradine, who played a 
sporadic role on the TV series as Herman's boss at the 
funeral parlor. but appears, here, as the evil Cruikshank, 
butler to the Munsters’ "less fortunate" English relatives 
Lewis carried on in TV and the movies, most notably in 
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? It's been suggested, 
though not confirmed, that it was Lewis who got his co- 
star. Jane Fonda, into leftist politics during the shooting of 
that film. I really doubt, however, that he told Fonda she 
should call returning P.O.W.'s "liars" for saying they'd been 
tortured by The Viet Cong. Politics (yawn! Oh, s'cuse me) 
aside, Al Lewis, Fred Gwynne, and Yvonne DeCarlo had 
one last go at it together in "The Munsters’ Revenge,” a 
1981 T.V. movie. They shouldn’t have bothered. The 
movie was ghastly, and not in a good way. Butch Patrick, 
by then pushing 30, was not brought in to play Eddie. His 
replacement was a young, Black actor in blue face makeup. 
I'm all for equal opportunity, but the brother looked 
strange, OK? Lewis even got the chance to reprise the role 
of Leo Schnauzer in the movie version of Car 54, Where 
Are You? The low budget production came and went in 
minutes (J don't remember it even running in Chicago, 
though it might have made it to one or two of the remaining 
dollar houses). It's actually a pretty fun flick, though, by no 
means, comedy as high art. How bad can a movie possibly 
be if it features Al Lewis, his original Car 54 co-star, 
Nipsey Russell, Fran Drescher, David Johansen (doing a 














pretty fin credible job as Gunther Toody without imitating Joe E. Ross. The only time he 
says "OO-OO!" is when he's having sex with his wife, played by Rosie O'Donnell. I'd be 
saying something else), not to mention, THE RAMONES in their second, and last, feature 
film appearance, rocking out at CBGB's? As all-star junk food cinema is concerned, you 
could do a lot worse, Consult the Mars Attacks movie if you should have any doubts. Lewis 
had entered the hallowed Horror Host realm around this time, too, as mentioned earlier, Like 
Elvira, bad jokes and bad-movies were his stock in trade. He was even reunited with Butch 
Patrick, in "Eddie Munster" mode (though, again, he could not legally use the Munster name. 
nor an approximation of the original makeup), on the show. Al made an unbilled guest 
appearance with Butch Patrick on Halloween at.a Chicago dance club around this time. If I'd 
known he was going to be there, I would have gone. One of my friends (who happens to be 
Jewish) told Al, "You have GOT to be the oldest Jew on record!” to which Al replied, "Yeah! 
I'm 3600 years old! I beat out all those guys in The Bible!” If you think that's un-P.C., check 
out James Porter's recollection of his chance meeting with Lewis in issue #41. In the Rock ‘n’ 
Roll world, not only did Lewis became friends with The Ramones, but he also turned up on 
the recent "Ramones Raw" DVD. The ultimate Rock n’ Horror coup, however, came in the 
early 80s when Al appeared on stage with Roky Erickson in Austin, as part of a Halloween 
spectacular that included a screening of T.V.Mikels' The Corpse Grinders, a live set by Roky. 
backed by members of The Leroi Bros. and The Delinquents (Lester Bangs' former backing 
group), and special guest, Al Lewis, fraternizing with Roky and their mutual fans Judging by 
the photos I've seen, it looked like the two were getting on famously. While Lewis was in 
Austin, he recorded a voiceover for local Roots Rock group, The Commandos, on a cover 
version of the 50s Horror Rock classic, "Baby Loves Monster Movies.” Leroi Bros.’ 
drummer, Mike Buck (who played on the on), actually tried to dissuade me from buying 
the resulting 45 some years later. I bought it, anyway, because a fool and his money will soon 
part, but, with a sound resembling mid-period X, but, with a more "garage" production, and 
Al Lewis doing his best, cackling, camp-Gramp voiceover (believe it or not, the entire 
"Munsters" cast did a singing and talking "Kiddie" record in the 60s, too, It's quite good 
Butch Patrick's been in and out of the rock scene since the early 70s, too), plus a rockin’ cover 
of the yet-to-be covered to death Sonics’ classic, "Psycho" (without Al, alas), you couldn't 
call me a fool for long. Al's mama didn’t raise any dummies, either, when you see how 
effortlessly he blended into modern pop culture with the iconic, though down to earth. 
personna he'd built around himself. He'll always be "Grandpa" to us, an eccentric, lunatic 
relative. I say that lovingly, though the first thing I heard on the tube, after I'd learned of his 
death, was "AL LEWIS IS SENILE! ,” but, it was the late Walter Matthau, speaking of 
George Burns' character of the same name in The Sunshine Boys. Still, it was kind of spooky 
I'm sure that when the two met on the other side, they yelled, “Moron!,” "Putz!,” then hugged 
real big. The beauty of Al Lewis was that he said whatever came off the top of his head. and 
if you didn’t like it, too bad. The spirit of Al lives on in reruns, even though the powers that 
be would rather have us watching 80s/90s drivel instead of truly great comedies like Car 54 











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or The Phil Silvers Show. If Jews are running the media, as some have 
maintained, then, why are today's sitcoms so lame?! We aren’t likely to see 
the likes of Al Lewis again, and the industry is probably breathing a big sigh 
of relief over that one, but we'll always remember his childlike sense of fun 
and his ADULT sense of humor. "Shalom, Gut Fraynt, Al...” 

Gene Pitney - Besides his many achievements, such as racking up many hits 


for himself while also composing hits for other top artists, incorporating ~ 


international influences before most Western musicians were doing so, and, 
eventually, being inducted into The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, one thing 
remains a constant with Gene Pitney. He was one of the only vocalists who 
could compete with Roy Orbison for the title of Rock's finest balladeer, a 
true singer's singer, if you will. In my humble opinion, Orbison would have 
won such a competition, but Pitney would have probably been the only other 
one to show up. His first hit, "Town Without Pity,” set to an orchestrated 
detective jazz backdrop that, for all the world, sounded like the Perry Mason 
theme, gave Rock n’ Roll an air of class, but still spoke volumes to the 
alienated teen. The song won a Golden Globe, and, nearly, on Oscar for 
"Best Song in a Motion Picture,” and was soon followed by a song intended 
for another movie soundtrack. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" was a 
huge hit, but, contrary to popular belief, it did not appear in the film of the 
same name (due to publishing hassles). Pitney's hit songs for other people 
included "He's a Rebel" by The Crystals, "Rubber Ball" by Bobby Vee, " 
Hello, Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson, and, wouldn’t you know it, "Today's 
Teardrops" by Roy Orbison. Gene also formed an alliance with The Rolling 
Stones, early in their careers, covering the Jagger-Richard composition, 
"That Girl Belongs To Yesterday,” while the group was still quite obscure in 
The United States. He was even on hand for the recording of their first 
decent sized hit, "Not Fade Away" b/w "I Wanna Be Your Man" (which 
Lennon and McCartney basically gave them in an effort to help The Stones 
provide some much-needed competition for The Beatles). Pitney (playing 
piano) appeared on The Stones’ first album, as did Phil Spector, but, the real 
moment of glory may well have been "Andrew's Blues,” a still unreleased 
gem (apart from bootlegs) which features the vocal talents of The Stones' 
manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, and Spector himself. It's posilutely 
FILTHY! He employed plenty of' exotic instruments on his records, 
culminating with a (by then, rather common) guitar-sitar sound on his last 
major U.S. hit, the killer Rock/Soul crossover, "She's a Heartbreaker,” 
released in 1968. Pitney was very early to incorporate Indian themes into 
Rock, as the 1963 release, "Mecca" presaged songs like "Norwegian Wood,” 
"Paint It Black" and "For Your Love" (the original, unreleased version, 
which employed a full traditional Indian band) by two years. Pitney went on 
to record in Italian and Spanish, and recorded, quite successfully, for Phil 
Spector. In 2002, he was inducted into The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, 
putting on the usual dynamic performance that was his stock in trade. He 
was found dead in Cardiff, Wales, while touring the U.K. It was later 
determined that Pitney died of natural causes. Ironic, perhaps, that Gene 
Pitney should give his last show, and take his last bow, in a country so 
closely associated with great singers? | think not. 

Johnny Paris - It’s not often that I hear about someone dying twice, but, | 
just did. When I learned that Johnny Paris (nee Pocisk), the legendary 
honking saxman and leader of the seminal Instrumental Rock group, Johnny 
and The Hurricanes, had died recently from Leukemia, | was taken 
aback...mainly because I'd already read his obituary at least 15 years ago! I 
remember reading, shortly after appearing at an Oldies revue in Merrilville, 
Indiana, that Johnny Paris had passed away, and that's what I'd believed all 
this time. What I'd read was wrong, but, not this time. Johnny began his 
musical career while still in his teens, patterning his sound on that of master 
blaster, Rudi Pompelli, Bill Haley's lifetime musical partner. Forming the 
Toledo-based Orbits, Paris made the usual rounds of teen dance halls, and 
performed on local TV The Orbits would go on to back Rockabilly singer, 
Mack Vickery (who later wrote the classic, "Meat Man,” for Jerry Lee 
Lewis), and begin making recordings under their new name, Johnny and The 
Hurricanes. Their first release, "Crossfire,” with a proto-Punk bassline and 
Paris’ distinctive, screamin’ sax sound, became a hit, but, later releases, 
"Reveille Rock,” "Red River Rock,” and "Beatnik Fly" sold far more copies. 
Along with Johnny's saxophone, the group often featured a cheesy "Ping 
Pong" keyboard sound, and some hot guitar runs, most notably on the near- 
Rockabilly "Beatnik Fly.” Their best-known songs were rocked-up 
adaptations of standards, a formula that served them well for a while, but the 





group eventually hit a brick wall. The hits stopped coming (though 
subsequent releases maintained a high standard of quality), and the original 
group fell apart. Johnny quickly got his second wind (I should be shot for 
such puns) in Europe, where he proved a popular live attraction with a new 
set of Hurricanes. England was a stronghold of his popularity, as was 
Germany, where he headlined over The Beatles at the fabled Star Club in 
Hamburg. Paris continued criss-crossing between the U.S. and Europe with 
various lineups of The Hurricanes, sometimes performing just under his.own 
stage name. He was performing in Scandinavia as recently as last 
November, and, while his is more the realm of record collectors than Oldies 
radio, Johnny Paris and his honkin' sax have left a lasting impression. The 
Kinks immortalized Johnny and The Hurricanes in "One of The Survivors,” 
and Status Quo still performs "Red River Rock" in concert. Not 
coincidentally, perhaps, the keyboard player from Davies' current touring 
band favors the classic "Hurricanes" sound. “He's one of the survivors, The 
boppers and the jivers, Yeah, and he rocks all day. Johnny and The 
Hurricanes, Johnny and The Hurricanes. Got my freedom riding along on 
the freeway. I ride a hundred miles an hour, but I don't mess up my 
D.A...Johnny Thunder, he's alright. He's one of the survivors, Twelve bars 
flowing through his brain. Jerry Lee Lewis, Dion and The Belmonts, Johnny 
and The Hurricanes, Johnny and The Hurricanes..” - Raymond Douglas 
Davies, 

Wilson Pickett - Now, it goes without saying that Wilson Pickett, along 
with James Brown, Otis Redding, Don Covay Joe Tex, all the great, foot-in- 
ass Soul shouters that emerged in the wake of Little Richard, epitomized the 
screamin’, beamin' and steamin' side of 60s Soul. No disrespect to the likes 
of Marvin and Smokey, but Pickett sang ‘em like a MAN. He could not be 
touched for pure macho delivery and raw, gruntin' and growlin’ phrasing. He 
could handle a ballad with the best of them ("Deborah,” with it's near- 
operatic phrasing, is a strange one, but it's a mover), but his was not 
"Makeout music,” it was FUN music. "YOU KNOW I FEEL AWRIGHT ?! 
FEEL PRETTY GOOD, Y'ALL!! UHH!! NAAAAA NA NA NA 
NAAAAA, NA NA NA NAAAA, NA NA NAAA NA NA NAA NA NA 
NAAAA!!! COME ON, Y'ALL, LET'S SAY IT ONE MORE TIME!!” 
Need | say more? Pickett had been kicking around (and, no doubt, kickin’ 
ass) in his native Detroit for quite a while before hitting paydirt with The 
Falcons’ powerful 1962 hit, "I Found a Love,” on which he sang lead. It was 
a melding of sacred and secular styles worthy of James Brown's early work, 
a fact not lost on White Soul Brother and Detroit diplomat #1, Mitch Ryder, 
who also sang the shit out of said number in 1970. Eventually, Pickett 
hooked up with Stax Records' legend, Jerry Wexler, a White producer who. 
like Lieber and Stoller and Johnny Otis before him, proved to be 100 % 
simpatico with Black culture, as was guitar great, Steve Cropper. with whom 
Pickett collaborated on several Soul smashes; "Don't Fight It,” "Land of 
1000 Dances," (both covered by Little Richard, despite his concession to 
being a "white attraction”) "Mustang Sally,” (which | haven’t heard a 
GOOD version of in years, but the original still floats my boat and gets my 
vote) and "Funky Broadway,” all stone cold killers, even after years of 
saturation. Of course, his signature song, "In The Midnight Hour" was 
probably responsible for the conception of much of the last wave of Baby 
Boomers. While Little Richard actually refused to release a version of the 
song, it became a staple of the American Garage band diet, spawning covers 
in at least the tens of thousands. As his glory years were fast approaching an 
end, Pickett still managed to score hits from (seemingly) unlikely sources, 
coming up with strong versions of "Hey, Jude" and even "Sugar, Sugar.” 
"Engine, Engine #9" and "Don't Knock My Love (pt.1 and 2) " followed, 
both were successful, in terms of sales, and in that they found Wilson 
exploring the same funky, Hard Rock-influenced sound that The Isley Bros. 
and Funkadelic were getting into at the time. Pickett remained a popular live 
attraction, even as his records showed a significant decline in sales. In the 
early 80s, he joined a touring version of the revamped Soul Clan (a 
"Supergroup" of sorts that originally featured Joe Tex, Solomon Burke, Ben 
E. King, Don Covay and Arthur Conley, and released one fine single in 
1969). Pickett was a natural for such a collaboration, which included all of 
the original members, barring Conley. The project wasn’t well-received, and 
the group quickly dissolved. Undeterred, Wilson carried on as before, 
recording and performing. He put in a guest appearance on a TV special 
hosted by James Brown, and, I'm sorry to say it, but, he detonated Mr. 
Dynamite and stole the whole damn show. In the 90s, his well-publicized 


67 








with the law 


clashes 
threatened to put his career 
on ice. but he seemed ready 


to make a return to 
prominence with a strong 
comeback bid, in the form of 
2000s "It's Harder Now,” a 
strong, solid, Hard Soul CD 
with a great early 70s style 
production and Pickett's 
vocals at their finest, He had 
a minor hit with the name- 
dropping novelty, "I'm a Soul 
Survivor,” not a bad tune, but 
probably the weakest of the 
bunch. Around this time, he 
was scheduled to play at The 
House of Blues in Chicago. I 
- Was going to be in Las Vegas 
for my Brother's birthday 
Nearly everywhere | went in 
Vegas, | heard a Wilson 
Pickett song. I'm not kidding! 
It's as if fate were mocking 
me (just for a change), As it 
turned out, I heard that 
Pickett did not take 
advantage of the opportunity 
to showcase his powerful 
new material. Instead, he 
sang about seven of his hits, 
let the audience do about half 
the singing, and that was 
about it...Much like the time I 
Saw a seemingly much more 
together cat, Al Green, 
performing at the same 
venue. Regardless of what 
direction his career was 
taking here on Earth, 
immortality was already the 
ticket for The Wicked Wilson 
Pickett. long before he kicked 
it 

Jack Wild - Like a lot of you 
(at least, the ones over 35), 
Jack Wild's name was 
synonymous with Saturday 
morning television in the 
early 70s...1f you were a 
young girl at the time, you 
probably kept track of his 
"Pix and Fax" in Tiger Beat 
and 16 Magazine. too, The 
Hell of it is, he was a good 
deal older than many of his 
female fans. While short in 
stature (he checked in at 5,” 
and looked considerably 
shorter onscreen). he could 
have passed for 10 years old, 
though he was pushing 20 at 
the peak of his popularity 
His other outstanding 
characteristic, a loud, high- 
pitched Cockney voice that 
made Davey Jones sound like 
Christopher Lee, could have 
been a hindrance (apart from 





Jones and Wild, I don't even remember seeing any English people on TV, at least not until The Double Deckers made the 
rounds on sunday mornings), but it endeared him to kids just the same Incidentally, Wild was born in Manchester, not 
London, but his accent, affected or not, registered as Cockney with us Yanks. Trained in musical theatre, Wild knew his 
way around a song and dance number before he starred on H.R. Puffenstuff, Sid and Marty Kroft's most popular kids' show, 
as Jimmy, the boy with the magic flute (no jokes, please. The Murmurs (remember them?) already got in a cheap shot in 
the liner notes to the vastly disappointing "Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits,” which criminally snubbed The Dickies, and 
was only redeemed by the appearance of The Ramones and Rev. Horton Heat), His 1970 LP, "The Jack Wild Album,” 
incorporated enough Music Hall and Cockney singalong stylings to make one think it would have surely alienated 
American audiences (not that that's a bad thing, necessarily). For starters, there's a song about fish and chips, ferchrissakes! 
Plus, along with readymade modern Music Hall ditties like "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "When I'm 64,” plus a pretty 
credible version of "Lazy Sunday" by The Small Faces (Steve Marriott, Davey Jones, and Wild, himself, had all played The* 
Artful Dodger in “Oliver!” Wild's performance in the film version almost netted him an Oscar). In hindsight, the song 
seems tailor-made for Wild's "Cor blimey, m'lord" tendencies. Jack even kicks off one song on the album with a hearty, " 
OI! * Though he kept working, Jack basically fell off the radar, and plunged headward and heavily into alcohol and 
cigarettes (though he was careful not to be photographed with either of the two, lest he send out a bad message to young 
people). He did sober up in the late 80s, though, by that time, he'd reportedly fallen prey to diabetes, exacerbated, in no 
small part, by years of heavy drinking. Through it all, Wild never stopped acting, mainly on stage, though he did appear as 
one of Robin Hood's Merry Men in the hit movie, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. In 2000, Wild was diagnosed with 
mouth cancer, the end result of years of smoking, compounded by the previous history of alcoholism. He was no longer 
able to eat solid food, drink (he had to be fed through a tube in stomach), or speak, as a result of chemotherapy. 
radiotherapy, and having had his tongue, as well as his voice box (larynx) surgically removed Remarkably, he still kept 
working, even appearing with Ron Moody (his former co-star from "Oliver!") in the 2005 independent film, "Moussaka 
and Chips,” and if that doesn’t tell you the man was made of something harder than steel, I don't know what will. The 
tragic irony is, that while Jack looked much younger than he actually was at his commercial peak, recent photos reveal a 
man who'd aged drastically, even when compared to just six years ago, when he appeared in a TV Guide "Where Are They 
Now?" piece. His battle with cancer didn’t distract him from getting on with his life, and get on with it, he did, until a 
greater stage called, one in which the diminutive likes of Wild and his " Artful Dodger" predecessor, Steve Marriott, are 
greater in stature than one could ever be on the stage we all tread in this life, where the laughs, and the applause, are 
greater, and the curtain never falls 

Barry and Billy Cowsill - The Cowsills are fondly remembered as the First Family of Sunshine Pop. but, in reality. the sun 
hasn't been shining on their doorstep in a long time. In the devastating wake of Hurricane Katrina, the list of missing music 
legends was surprisingly small, but, too damned big. While Fats Domino, Alex Chilton, and almost everybody else on the 
list eventually turned up alive and well, Barry Cowsill would still be listed as missing, three months later. His body was 
finally found near the Chartres Street Wharf. A Jazz funeral was held in New Orleans, and the family was just completing 
memorial services in their hometown of Newport, Rhode Island, when they got the word that their tragedy was now 
twofold. Billy Cowsill had suddenly passed away, after a long, crushing, bout with Emphysema, Osteoporosis, and Cushing 
Sydrome, though the actual cause of death had not been revealed The Cowsills were unique in that they were a real family 
group. Their mother, the late Barbara Cowsill, performed and recorded with her six children, while their Father, Bud 
Cowsill, acted as manager, and, reportedly, made off with most of their earnings. Not surprisingly, after hits like "The Rain, 
The Park and Other Things,” "We Can Fly ,” and "Indian Lake,” commercial spots for The American Dairy Association. 
and being immortalized with their own Harvey comic book (as well as hav ing the great Jack Davis illustrate their "Best of" 
LP), the Cowsills were considered for their own TV show, a live action comedy-drama about, what else ? A traveling, 
family based, Pop-Rock group. The only hitch was that the producers wanted established actress and singer, Shirley Jones, 
to play the mom. Legend has it the group stood firm, no Barbara, show The studio came up with the big. bright idea of 
recruiting singer, David Cassidy (Jones' stepson, with whom she was barely speaking at the time), and four other kids who 






























all looked like they had different fathers, to be the makeshift TV singing family. The show could have been the shot in 
the arm that the Cowsills, who were falling out of favor, needed to get back on track, though, obviously, Hollywood 
played their hunch, and won. Bill, by this time, had befriended Brian Wilson, and was rallying for the group to do more 
"Rock" oriented material. He had taken a notion that the band could score a hit with the theme song to the new Rock 
musical, "Hair,” which ruffled MGM's feathers considerably, not deeming it a fit single (it's not like they'd recorded a 
version of "Sodomy" or something). Bill proved them wrong by handing D.J.s self-made demos of the song, and MGM 
had to concede. The Cowsills had a huge hit on their hands (1 had a copy, which I dearly loved, and I was only 5 years 
old!). The single would also have the distinction of being the only song to be banned in Vietnam during the war, a fact 
not lost on proud brother, Richard Cowsill, who'd served two tours of duty while this was going on. The hits would 
stop coming after Bill was kicked out of the group, by their Father, for smoking pot. Of course, The Cowsills made 
other attempts to break the Rock market, most notably with their swansong LP,”II x II,” a proto God-Rock epic. The 
group, amazingly enough, performed the title track on "Playboy After Dark.” The Cowsils disbanded in the early 70s, 
though Barry would go on to perform in Canada with Blue Northern and The Blue Shadows, and Billy would turn up, 
most recently, on a Hank Williams tribute CD. Bob Cowsill has been holding down a residency at Pickwick's Pub in 
Woodland Hills, California, where it was announced that the surviving Cowsills would be performing a memorial show 
for their fallen Brothers. Susan Cowsill has been the most visible member of the family, recently, working with Peter 
Holsapple of The DB's and Vickie Peterson of The Bangles in The Continental Drifters. She's recently released a strong 
solo album. 
"Young kids want to conform to what their mothers like, so they like The Cowsills - family approved Pop music." 
-Pete Townshend. 
“Susan Cowsill smiled at me once. It was pretty cool."-John Battles. 

Clifton James - For years, Bo Diddley hasn’t let his pickup drummers play the famous "Bo Diddley Beat,” reportedly 
telling them, "I wrote that! What am I gonna play if you're playing that?!” The man who actually laid down that primal 
rhythm didn’t fight for his bit of credit, but stated that he created the beat as much as Bo Diddley did, in what would 
sadly turn out to be his last public appearance. Clifton James was Bo's first drummer, performing and recording with 
him, off and on, for nearly 20 years. As far as who crafted that inimitable "Shave and a haircut, two bits" drum pattern, 
Clifton James was there, so, he should know. James had basically retired from music some 20 years ago, but, like 
fellow Diddley sideman, Jody Williams, the craving came back. James played a well-received live set with Lady Bo, at 
the 2005 Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans, and was planning to perform with her again at this year's festival, but a 
heart attack took his life before these plans could be carried out. The lucky few who got to see James’ last stand, 
flanked by Milt Trenier and Chicago children's TV legend, Jack Mulqueen, at the Chicago Cultural Center, in a multi- 
media event, orchestrated by our own Jake Austen, will agree that he definitely had a sharp wit, and a way with a story. 
Jake asked Clifton if the popular version of what went down when Bo Diddley made his one and only appearance on 
The Ed Sullivan Show was, in fact, true, and he replied. "Yes, it was true, every bit of it! | should know, I was in the 
room when it happened.” Bo had previously described his interaction with Sullivan like so: Sullivan was pissed off, 
because, at the last minute, he'd claimed that he told Bo that he wanted his signature song, "Bo Diddley,” dropped from 
his two minute spot (as part of "Dr. Jive's Rhytnm and Blues Revue"), and replaced with "16 Tons,” the current 
Tennessee Ernie Ford hit that Bo was singing backstage as a warmup. When Bo went ahead and did a brilliant version 
of his self-titled mini-epic, Sullivan reportedly showed up backstage, saying something to the effect of "That's the first 
time a black boy ever cheated me out of a song,” and that he'd see to it that Diddley never worked in television again. 
Whether Bo was truly blacklisted was never made clear, but it took him ten years to get on TV again. Clifton confirmed 
that this was basically what happened, adding that Bo had to be physically restrained, and warned that this was 
Mr.Sullivan he was dealing with, a very influential man (they were right, of course). In Bo's estimation, "Mr. Sullivan" 
was just another Irish guy from New York, and, to a Black Chicago Southsider, not a deity at all (he was right, too). 
Clifton was aware of the potential mixup, but went along with the early Rock n' Roll classic as planned, stating that " I 

















IN A TRovT — 
MASK REPLICA. 


LEX ST. cLAige 





was working for Bo Diddley. Ed 
Sullivan was not paying me at the 
end of the night. Bo Diddley 
was...” Jake mentions in the 
book, T.V. A-Go-Go (which this 


soiree was put together to 
promote) that Sullivan may not 
have been a racist. I don't think 
he was, either, but, he obviously 
didn’t know who he was fucking 
with. "If it had been me, instead 
of Bo,” said James, "It would 
have ended differently.” Not only 
that, but "16 Tons" (a great song, 
don't get me wrong) would not 
have made sense, musically, in 
the company of Lavern Baker 
and Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson, 
as part of such a high energy Rn’ 
B package. James also mentioned 
that he had played spoons on a 
Lou Rawls recording session! 
Clifton James proved to be a 
likeable, funny fellow, 
maintaining a cool rapport with 
Trenier, Mulqueen, and their 
audience, When I had the 
pleasure of meeting the man 
himself, he seemed to have no 
regrets, and, let's hope, that's how 
it really was, Before he left, | 
recall someone asking James if 
his was the second voice, trying 
to bust Bo Diddley's brass 
cajones, on the hilarious street 
corner rap, "Say, Man" 
(Ironically, Bo Diddley and Co.'s 
highest charting single). "No," he 
said, "That was Jerome Green. | 
was the guy at the end, saying, ‘I 
ain't got nothin’ to do with it, but 
I believe the fella's RIGHT!’” 
Well, if Clifton James wants to 
take credit for one of the most 
important (If not THE most 
important) beats in Rock ‘n’ Roll 
history, | KNOW that fella's 
right. 

Allen "Alpo" Paulino - The 
recording industry tried, in the 
late 60s, to create this "scene" 
around Boston, "The Bosstown 
Sound,” they called it, late in the 
original Psychedelic era. This 
ear-coup was quickly dismissed 
as hype, and written off by the 
press and the fans alike. The 
problem wasn’t that the music 
was so bad (while much of it, 
most assuredly, WAS), but, 
rather, that the scene at that time 
was not created organically. 
Some years later, the early 
Modern Lovers offered an 
entirely different slant on the 
local music scene. Influenced by 
the Velvet Underground, who 


were frequent visitors to Boston 
(even after Lou Reed had split), 
the Modern Lovers, despite, or 








because of, Jonathan Richman's Bubblegum aspirations, laid down the 
groundwork for a return to basic Rock ‘n’ Roll in Boston, while The Dolls 
were doing the same thing in New York City. The whole thing gelled in 
1976, when bands like DMZ, Mickey Clean and The Mezz, Nervous Eaters, 
and "Bosstown Hype" survivor (not to mention, member of one of the last 
Velvets lineups), Willie "Loco" Alexander, took over an already decaying 
Rock bar, The Rathskellar (aka "The Rat,” where the legendary Remains, 
and, later, an embryonic Aerosmith, had once ruled the roost), in much the 
same manner as The Ramones, Television, et al, laid down the foundation 
for New York Punk Ground Zero at C.B.G.B's (if she's no longer with us by 
the time you read this, please raise your middle finger to the East). In a grass 
roots approach, comparable to the coinciding UK Pub Rock scene (i.e. The 
Count Bishops, Pirates, Inmates, Eddie and The Hot Rods, and, of course, 
Dr. Feelgood), no frills Rock'n ' Roll was back in Boston, BECAUSE the 
hype machine was not involved. It just happened, with groups who knew 
that they could MAKE it happen, given a little effort. One of the most 
happening (If not THEE most happening) bands to emerge from this scene 
was The Real Kids. Like their bruthers in arms, DMZ, they pulled from 
Chuck Berry and Eddie Cochran, mid-60s Garage Punk, Detroit gods like 
Mitch Ryder, The Stooges and The MCS, the all-of-the-above Flamin’ 
Groovies, and their future allies on the Bowery front, The Ramones and The 
Heartbreakers (Real Kids' lead singer and guitarist John Felice, previously 
with the original Modern Lovers, had nearly landed himself a spot in Johnny 
Thunders’ now-legendary Dolls offshoot group). They put it all together 
with other, related, influences, and came up with something entirely their 

own. The Real Kids made the up and coming NYC punks look like pussies 

(no disrespect to The Ramones, Heartbreakers, Dead Boys or Dictators, of 
course). If you don't believe me, read about what fate befell future D 
Generation and Danzig member, Howie Pyro, in Ugly Things # 17, for 
spitting on the band for the "So not Punk" faux pas of having long hair at 
CBGBs), but, most importantly, they also brought back melodicism and 
great songwriting. Allen "Alpo" Paulino had a bass attack somewhere 
between Michael Davis (MC5) and Dee Dee Ramone, but a sound all his 
own, holding down a band as easy to contain as a feral jaguar (the cat and 
the car), The classic lineup's self-titled debut remains a solid blast, while 
strong (tho' difficult to obtain) follow up recordings are now available on 
Norton, as is their previously mentioned first sonic assault. The group 
staggered into the 80s, with several personnel changes, and, by their own 
admission, a host of drug problems. Still, their later material (available on 
Munster and Norton) rocks fast and tight, just the same. The original band 
reformed in the 90s, playing select dates and releasing the excellent "Down 
To You" 45 and CD ep (I gave John Felice the Roctober with my review of 
the single. He introduced me from the stage, saying, "Yeeah! Where's that 
KID?!!"). A proposed live album, on the fine D.U.I label, only yielded one 
(damned good) single. The band kept gigging, though Alpo and bassist, 
Billy Borgioli, soon departed, to be followed by Howie, BUT, The Real 
Kids have always delivered, make no mistake about that. The reformed 
DMZ, naturally, rejoined their buddies on stage once more. Talk began to 
spread about a proposed New York/Boston quadruple bill at The Warsaw in 
Brooklyn, starring The Real Kids, DMZ, The Dictators and The Fleshtones. 
1 asked Handsome Dick Manitoba about this, and he said, "That's the first 
I've heard of it, but, it's a good idea!” | told him, please, use it. DMZ have 
since split up again (happy 30th birthday, guys, just the same), but, I don't 
think there's any ruling out The Real Kids, yet. Felice and co. still have the 
tenacity of a Texas cockroach, and the Spirit of '76 in their rock-hard Rock 
‘n’ Roll hearts. Alpo may have checked out of this world, but his praises 
will be sung for many a day. Alpo's friend, and mine, JJ Rassler, late of 
DMZ and currently with The Downbeat 5, was kind enough to sing those 
very praises for us, right here, right now, right everything... 

"In February '76, DMZ was rehearsing for our first show-It will have been 
exactly 30 years in a few weeks, incidentally-and it was Alpo who brought 
the P.A., that's when we first met. We rented his P.A. for a few weeks, for 
the first gig, and, after that, we fired our first singer, Adam Balm (man, / 
thought MY puns were bad !-John). Alpo came by, and sang a few Stooges 
songs with us. | said, “Let's get him!,” but, as it turned out, he told us, " I've 
Just joined The Real Kids, on bass..” We stayed friends. We started gigging 
together immediately, once we got Jeff Connolly to join DMZ on vocals and 
keyboards. We were friends ever since, DMZ and The Real Kids, though 
some of us, personally, moreso than others. Rick Corraccio (DMZ guitarist) 


lived with John Felice. Howie Ferguson (Real Kids' drummer) and I still live 
in the same building, and Alpo and I remained friendly. We were in the 
early Queers (pre-Pop/Punk popularity) together, and The Cheater Slicks for 
a while, too, That was around '87- '88. Alpo and | were also in The 
Immortals around that time, along with Howie Ferguson and Danny 
McCormack from The Lyres. Alpo was a personality that was instantly 
remembered. We rode the waves for 30 years in Boston. Our relationship 
never changed-mutual appreciation, kindred spirits...We played a buttload of 
gigs together at The Rat, Cantone's, and CBGB, and we hung together a lot. 
There was a lot of crossover between DMZ and The Real Kids, Boston was 
rather incestuous. What bonded us was the appreciation for the same core of 
music. When I first heard The Real Kids, I fell in love with ‘em. Mickey 
Clean, too, and a band called The Dawgs. It doesn’t happen often. It happens 
every other generation. For the past 5 years, it's been like that. It's a natural 
evolution, rather than emulation." 

Note: J.J. has asked me to point out, also, that Lee Ritter, lead singer with 
The Inflictors (who appeared, alongside DMZ and The Real Kids, on the 
fine "Live At The Rat" compilation), also passed away recently, as did Gino 
Jrom the popular Portland, Maine, venue, Gino's (Portland being the home 
of The Brood, the coolest all-girl Garage group, ever). As I write this, a 
memorial show for Alpo is being planned in Boston. 

Allen "Alpo" Paulino-Real Kids To Eternity. 

Doug Townsend — Townsend, drummer for several early Dallas-Ft. Worth 
Punk bands, most notably The Dot Vaeth Group, Superman's Girlfriend, and 
early glam punks, The Toys, passed away recently after a long battle with 
pancreatic cancer. The Ft. Worth based Dot Vaeth Group (which later 
emerged, revamped, as Superman's Girlfriend), was one of the very first 
punk bands in the DFW area. Their lone ep is one of the crudest, below 
gutter-level, aural assaults unleashed in it's day. It can be heard on the fine 
Existential Vacuum compilation, "Deep In The Throat of Texas.” 
Superman's Girlfriend appear on "Unquestionably Late For The Trend,” also 
on EV, along with The Vomit Pigs, Dot Vaeth, and The Skuds, and on a 
split EV ep with The Vomit Pigs (whose extremely rare three track ep. now 
considered a Holy Grail among rare Punk 45s, appears here in full, along 
with two live S.G. tracks). There's also a new CD compilation of their 
material, but the band's shining moment came when they appeared on the 
first-ever Texas Punk comp, “Are We Too Late For The Trend?.” which 
SCREAMS for a reissue, by the way. "Lois, Lois" reveals the epic, and 
hilarious, saga of Metropolis After Dark, set to a manic "Waitin' For The 
Man" beat (Lou Reed did record superhero songs for kids while on 
Pickwick, y'know). Lead singer, Jim Nabors, strays from the point long 
enough to tell the story of how he met Doug and his Brother, S.G. guitarist, 
Dave Townsend, in High School, pausing only briefly to say, "Now. you ask 
me what this has to do with Superman, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Perry 
Stewart (not Perry White. Perry Stewart is a DF W-area music journalist)? 
I'm gonna tell ya...NOTHING!!!" The Townsend bros. also appear on 
"Giant Girl in The Fifth Grade" by The Infants, another great track from the 
same comp. In the late 80s, the two also played, along with former 
Nervebreaker, Barry Kooda, in Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!, who were not a far cry 
from The Nervebreakers, soundwise. Doug would later be replaced by 
Patrick "Taz" Bentley, who'd go on to leave to join The Reverend Horton 
Heat. | saw both lineups, and they both rocked, maaan. David went on to 
play in a later Lithium Xmas lineup, as well. Doug was very well liked in an 
oft-overlooked, but remarkably prolific, early Dallas-Fort Worth area punk 
scene. There was a time when this stuff was just FUN. Hopefully. for Doug. 
it will always be that way. 

Arthur Lee - Did I know Arthur Lee? Only as most of you did, through his 
music. We did meet, briefly, in 1993. Arthur had played an abbreviated set 
at The Cubby Bear in Chicago (after just 45 minutes, he began to lose 
interest, saying, "1 might do some more if someone brings me some 
Geritol!” Our sleuths later determined that an overzealous fan, meaning no 
harm, had plied him with White Russians before the show. That person's 
name is being withheld to protect the guilty), and went to greet fans while 
his backing band, Baby Lemonade, were doing their set (It was Arthur's idea 
to have THEM follow him). Arthur, all smiles, looked back at the stage, and 
told me, "I've never heard these guys before!” I thought, "OhhhhK AY...” 
Then, he told me, "I mean, those guys are MY band, but I've never heard 'em 
do their own stuff!” Either way, of course, he was putting me on. Typical 
Arthur humor. This rather offbeat humor would manifest itself a few months 


70 






later, when I found myself interviewing him over the phone for Bad Trip 
magazine. "What time do you want to do this interview, man,” he asked 
me, " ‘cause | wake up with the roosters and the hens!” I laughed, and 
Arthur replied, "I'm serious as a heart attack, man! I got some chickens I 
keep behind the house, and I wake up, like, at five a.m. to feed them!” 
After a couple of false starts (hmm..Good name for an album), the 
interview eventually got underway. I found Arthur to be alternately 
hilarious and somber; enthusiastic and disinterested; friendly, and, well, 
sometimes, not so. Reports of his volatility are not unfounded, but, any 
misunderstanding we might have had was purely kid stuff, and, well, 
Arthur was the kid. The classic Love lineup, as well as their leader, had a 
reputation for being irritable and downright surly (not unlike Bob Dylan's 
proto-punk arrogance in Don't Look Back), earning them the affectionate 
title of "Hate,” but, my overall experience with the man was positive. We 
had some laughs, said that we'd each say a prayer for the other, and left it 
at that. In retrospect, Arthur Lee and Love were the antithesis of the West 
Coast Hippie movement, though they had something that none of their 
supposedly more enlightened peers could claim; a racially integrated 
lineup. Booker T. and The MGs and The Del-Vikings were there first, 
but, the former didn’t sing and the latter didn’t play. The first major, fully 
formed, Rock band with both Black and white members had arrived by 
1966, whether America was ready or not. Supposedly, Arthur softened 
the blow by "Sounding like a white guy,” when, in truth, he incorporated 
many musical styles, Black and white, and came up with something 
uniquely his own, impossible to pigeonhole. The fact that Arthur was 
actually Biracial is usually lost on music critics, anyway. Dick Clark 
(earlier, a silent opponent of integration) featured the band on American 
Bandstand, and some FINE lookin’ sisters turned up to check out Arthur 
and guitarist, Johnny Echols (and, for all I know, Celtic sun-god, Bryan 
MacLean, too!). The face of Rock ‘n’ Roll was indeed changing, with the 
indisputably handsome, impossibly cool visage of one Arthur Lee, 
adorned with the handmade, diamond-shaped shades that would become 
his trademark. Love brought the underground into living rooms all over 
The U.S.A. before "Hippie" was even a household word. Still, they 
represented something that was not a product of the early, pre-speed and 
smack ravaged, Haight Ashbury scene (though they built a strong fan 
base among the Avalon and Fillmore Ballroom sets), but of a Los 
Angeles already succumbed to hard drugs, street violence (at both the 
hands of police and civilians), human trafficking, and riots, racially 
motivated and otherwise. Love was the first band to accurately reflect the 
loss of glamour, innocence, and hope that Hollywood once represented to 
the rest of America. The Doors, who got signed to Elektra records on 
Arthur's tip, are better known today for exposing the dark side of L.A., 
when, in fact, Arthur Lee and Love had it all over The Doors, and any 
other band that followed in their wake, for putting out the violent, 
paranoid vibe that had taken over Los Angeles by the mid-to-late sixties 
In later years, the only band to paint the town black with such accuracy, 
in my estimation, would have been X. Although Arthur seemed 
uncomfortable in his role as a progenitor of punk rock (he once told 
interviewer Frank Beeson, "Where I come from, a ‘punk’ is like, a 
homosexual."), his status was cemented with songs like his first hit, a piss 
and vinegar take on Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book.” The follow- 
up hit, "7 and 7 is,” is arguably one of the first hardcore prototypes ever 
(along with "1523 Blair" by The Outsiders and The Zakary Thaks' "Bad 
Girl"). They did the definitive version of "Hey Joe" (though The Byrds 
recorded it first, it was Love's arrangement, as sung by Bryan MacLean, 
that would be borrowed by literally thousands of others, starting with the 
Leaves, whose version was a hit, a fact that Lee dearly resented. The 
Byrds tried being magnanimous when they performed the song at 
Monterey Pop by dedicating it to both Love [who had been invited to 
perform at the prestigious event, but declined, as it wasn’t a paying gig] 
and The Leaves). There was "My Flash on You,” with a slashing Folk- 
punk riff, "Hey Joe™’s angrier brother, a vocal delivery that shoots from 
the hip, both middle fingers out, and lyrics that told the hard drug scene 
to take a flying fuck (though the band would later go on to disintegrate 
under the weight of various drug habits). And there was the outstanding 
Psych-Punk of 
Adam (whose drummer, Michael Stuart-Ware, would soon join Love) 
and The Other Half (whose lead guitarist, Randy Holden, had also played 











"Feathered Fish,” which was covered by the Sons of 





“SITTING on “THE HILLSIDE, 
» WATCHING ALL THE PEOPLE DIE... 


I) FEEL MUCH BETTER ON THE 
OTHER SIDE...” 


1\ 








in Sons of Adam, and would turn up, briefly, in Blue Cheer), and, though 
obviously an Arthur Lee original, it was inexplicably credited to Country 
Joe McDonald. Arthur, himself, would not record the song until the mid- 
90s, with Baby Lemonade. It was around that time that I spoke to 
Love/Baby Lemonade guitarist, Mike Randall, about how careful I was 
not to use the "P" word around Arthur. Randall assured me that Arthur 
had since embraced punk rock, and the idea that it had sprang from his 
loins. Arthur himself told me that he had to follow the Germs once on 
stage(!!). "They broke bottles and glasses on stage! I personally took a 
broom and swept that shit UP!” But, Arthur's influence ran deep on a 
fledgling Punk and Garage Rock scene in the late 70s, though he was 
unable to appreciate it at the time, as he was tending to his Father, who 
was dying of terminal cancer. Still, I was quick to point out to Arthur that 
Patti Smith had referred to him in one of her poems (she may well have 
also been the only artist to mention his passing at Lollapalooza this year), 
and that Love was a big influence on a band that also recorded a self- 
titled debut album, likewise comprised of 7 short, sharp, shocks on each 
side, The Ramones."7 and 7 is,” indeed. Tommy Ramone stated in an 
interview that The Ramones were coming from the same place as Love, 
in terms of energy. In fact, Tommy and Johnny's first band, Tangerine 
Puppets, were doing Love covers as early as '66-'67. The Ramones, of 
course, later recorded and performed "7 and 7 is,” and even had their 
pictures taken with Arthur for Rolling Stone, though, for some reason, the 
picture never turned up. Marky Ramone told me that he had no idea why 
the photo wasn’t used. While "Love,” the band's seminal debut album, 
was a great deal more diverse, stylistically, than "The Ramones,” only 
one song clocks in at (barely) over three minutes, and even songs about 
unrequited love ("No Matter What You Do,” "A Message To Pretty") 
reek of the same, "you broke my heart, so I'm gonna break your fucking 
jaw"-tone that's inherent in The Stranglers' more contemplative numbers 
(the fact that Hugh Cornwall, as well as Joey Ramone, were both arrested 
in L.A. for walking down the street should signify that very little had 
changed by the late 70s). Though Love's earlier, Byrds-influenced, Folk- 
Rock, especially on the outstanding "You I'll Be Following" (which 
Arthur clued me was probably closer in spirit, live, to what The Ramones 
would conceive of, ten years later), was often drenched in California 
sunshine, the forecast was for storms. "Signed, D.C." addressed drug 
addiction head on, from an addict's point of view. The "D.C." in question 
turned out to be original drummer, Don Conka, who fell off the radar 
after his heroin habit hastened an early departure, and was assumed dead 
for years, until he briefly resurfaced in an early 90s Love lineup (with 
latter day cult hero, Shuggie Otis, on lead guitar). He died only recently, 
as did Bryan Maclean and bassist, Ken Forssi. Love's second release, "Da 
Capo,” was a more ambitious effort, still, with drummer, Alban "Snoopy" 
Pfisterer moving over to harpsichord, and Michael Stuart-Ware taking 
over on drums, plus the addition of Tjay Cantrelli on woodwinds. The 
album contained "7 and 7 Is,” Maclean's "Orange Skies,” sung lovingly 
by Arthur, who still asked Bryan, "why must you always write songs 
about ice cream?,” the swirling Psychedelic Soul-Jazz of "Stephanie 
Knows Who" (with a ballsy vocal that should have made Jim Morrison 
consider retiring), and two numbers that caused a minor controversy at 
the time. The first, "She Comes in Colors,” characterized by the gentle, 
though effective, interplay of Cantrelli's flute and Lee's voice, appears, 
for all the world, to have been the uncredited inspiration for The Rolling 
Stones’ "She's a Rainbow" (not to mention, more recently, and more 
blatantly, Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger"). While many artists would be 
proud to say, "Wow! The Stones ripped me off!,” Arthur took it personal, 
especially when The Stones supposedly got the inspiration for their own 
extended album cut, "I'm Going Home,” from hearing an early live 
version of “Revelation,” which took up the whole of side two on "Da 
Capo,” a good year or more before Iron Butterfly created a sensation 
doing the same thing. Love was accused of copying The Stones, and 
Arthur accused The Stones of copying him, when, in fact, "Can't 
Explain,” from Love's first album, was almost identical, lyrically, to the 
earlier Stones’ cut, "What a Shame.” It's all good music, though, so, who 
cares? "Forever Changes,” of course, is the album that many people 
consider to be the zenith of Rock music for that era, and arguably, any 
era since. The album was not an uncontested success when it came out. 
The band refused to tour at that point, and had seldom played outside of 


12 


California, previously, none of which helped, plus, as a friend of mine who'd 
been following Love at the time, put it, a lot of people simply didn’t get it. 
Nevertheless, it was the only Love LP to stay in print well into the eighties (of 
course, since then, Love's entire output would be reissued, though, only 
sporadically). Enough has been written about this album, already, to fill The 
Laurel Canyon, but it goes without saying that it is delivered with the urgency 
of a band on the brink of collapse (the band broke up once while recording it, 
then, finally, after finishing it), led by the apocalyptic visions of a man 
convinced that his days on earth were numbered (Arthur truly believed that he 
was going to die soon, so he viewed this record as his last words to the world), 
"Forever Changes" is famous today for being one of the first successful 
mergings of the contemporary Rock sounds with Classical arrangements, as 
well as the seemingly unhip Pop influence of Johnny Mathis (Lee and Echols 
were undoubtedly influenced by his hairstyling methods, as well). It didn’t go 
off without a hitch, however. Arthur told me that when the orchestra appeared 
to record their parts, they figured, by his appearance, that he couldn’t possibly 
have been the artist they were hired to work with. Instead of putting them 
straight, Arthur said that he decided to goof on them for a while. When they 
finally decided to leave, Arthur stood up and said, " Hey, I'm the guy!” Though 
a sense of Armageddon prevailed over the proceedings (the Beatles weren't 
really singing of Revelations, Love was), Arthur gets a few more cosmic jokes 
in, like what's now the most quoted line on the album, "Oh, the snot has caked 
against my pants, it has turned into crystal...,” sang in a beautiful tenor that 
Jackie Wilson would've admired, and what of his impersonation of Kingfish 
from Amos and Andy ("All God's children wants to have their freedom!")? Still, 
the album really raised the bar for Rock lyricism. Only in death would Love 
and "Forever Changes" come close to getting their just due. The band lasted 
just long enough to record one further, brilliant, single, "Your Mind and We 
Belong Together,” which is, ostensibly, one song, though it goes through as 
many changes as The Who's "A Quick One (While He's Away),” and in less 
time. Love was over, but Love was not lost. Arthur quickly put together a new 
version of the group, considerably heavier, more Jazz-Rock oriented, less 
influenced by Musical Theatre. "Those guys put it all out on my first three 
albums,” Arthur told me, " They got me into this Psychedelic Jazz thing, and 
had me thinking my other stuff was no good.” The group rode out Arthur's 
contractual obligation to Elektra, but Arthur had signed to the fledgling Blue 
Thumb Records before Elektra had released him. Arthur attempted to rectify 
this by crediting himself as an adverb, "Arthurly,” on his Blue Thumb debut, 
"Out Here,” which was a double LP set, released at roughly the same time as 
"Four Sail,” Love's swansong LP for Elektra, again, not a good move, from a 
commercial standpoint. Fans didn’t take to this lineup as readily (many of them 
still don't), but even if this version of Love was less consistent, they still put out 
some strong material, better enjoyed IF one doesn’t hold it up against the first 
three albums. Eventually, Love called it a day, Arthur going solo with the 1972 
release, "Vindicator" on A&M, which found him getting more into Hendrix- 
styled "Black Rock,” a theme he was developing with the later Love lineup 
(though, unlike the original group, that band was otherwise White), Arthur 
made no bones about the fact that he resented his friend Jimi's success eclipsing 
his own, but Love would finally tour Europe in 1970, supporting Hendrix. who 
played guitar on Love's "The Everlasting First,” one of his last sessions, ever. 
Arthur Lee stated, repeatedly, that Jimi and he had recorded an instrumental 
jam session in the studio, though the tapes have yet to surface, and, even if they 
do, it's now too late for Arthur to go with his first plan, to record his voice over 
the original tracks. Arthur also stated that his early 70s solo project, "Band 
Aid,” with whom he recorded "Vindicator,” would have featured Jimi Hendrix, 
had he lived, as well as Steve Winwood. The album, itself, is actually very 
good, though laden with the same, potentially offensive, humor as "Forever 
Changes" (case in point: "Oh, what a dish, she smelled just like a fish!"). The 
album did nothing to reestablish his career, but he recorded a second 
(unreleased) solo LP called "Black Beauty,” another slab of Black Rock in the 
Hendrix/Isley Bros. vein. It too is highly enjoyable, taken on it's own terms, 
Yet another version of Love surfaced in 1974, with "Reel To Reel" on RSO. 
which was poorly received, though the group toured with labelmate, Eric 
Clapton, in support of it. Critics and fans alike have argued that Arthur never 
recovered, artistically, from losing Bryan MacLean as a musical collaborator. 
Though Lee took sole credit for nearly every song the original band released. 
it's often been said that he couldn't have come by the elements of Musical 
Theatre inherent in Love's music on his own. Still, even Bryan called him "A 
Black guy that wrote showtunes.” At any rate, Lee never fully gained 





momentum, even when he and Maclean briefly reunited in 1978. Rhino 
Records released a pretty good live LP from that reunion, which took full 
advantage of the new trend in picture discs, as well as a new solo album, 
simply titled "Arthur Lee,” recorded at different times, and with different 
musicians, including Hendrix protege #1, the late Velvert Turner ("We 
did a show once, and he went on stage with a mouthful of water, and spit 
it out on the audience! "-Arthur). For several years, Arthur lay low, rarely 
gigging, and seldom turning up in the rock press. He spoke to Rolling 
Stone, in their celebrated "Where Are They Now?" column, of wanting to 
reform the classic lineup ("In a pig's ass!,” replied Ken Forssi, when later 
asked by Arthur to do just that). It would be a few years, still, until 
Arthur began recording and performing with an assemblage of musicians, 
again, under the "Love" banner. In 1986, he appeared at the Super Sixties 
Festival in San Bernadino with the likes of Eric Burdon, N.R.B.Q., The 
Standells (the classic lineup), Sky Saxon and a makeshift Seeds, 
Chambers Bros., Spirit, Peter Noone, and others. In 1987 he did a mini- 
tour of California with The Seeds (now the original lineup, barring 
guitarist, Jan Savage), The Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Music 
Machine (Arthur made no bones about the fact that he believed Sean 
Bonniwell copped his hit song, "Talk Talk,” from Love's "My Little Red 
Book.” Rudi Protrudi from The Fuzztones later, inadvertently, played the 
role of Henry Kissinger by getting both men in the studio to sing on The 
Fuzztones' track, "All The King's Horses"). In 1991, a live video was 
released by Iceworld. A rather low budget effort, it's still recommended if 
you can find a copy. In 1992, Lee recorded an LP for the distribution- 
challenged New Rose records in France. It sank without a trace, though 
not because it was bad. On the contrary, it's a fine album, as raw and 
diverse as ever. Reviewers in the pre-Mojo UK bemoaned the lack of a 
budget to make it an orchestrated affair along the lines of "Forever 
Changes.” They should know, you can't buy his sound. God knows 
THEY didn’t buy it. Arthur announced that he'd be working on a version 
of "Somebody's Watching You,” a spiritual reworking of the Seeds’ 
classic, "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" (featured on The New Rose 
album), with friend and fan, Sky Saxon, on vocals, but it's unclear as to 
whether this recording was ever made. Not too long after that, the L.A. 
group Baby Lemonade, became Arthur's backup band, and the two began 
to play out, to great acclaim. Arthur told me, "Those guys complement 
my music to the highest,” even going as far as to say that he placed them 
above the original Love lineup (whether he truly believed that or not, 
Arthur eventually brought original Love guitarist, John Echols, back into 
the fold, a welcome addition, one that | wouldn’t have traded for the 
chamber orchestra of the previous "Forever Changes" tour, as fine as they 
were), "But.” he added, "Their favorite group is NIRVARRA ! And 
Syd...’Pink Floyd’ Syd, who said that I influenced him"(Barrett probably 
did say that, though I've never read it anywhere...B.T.W., "Baby 
Lemonade" is the name of a Syd Barrett song). Things were going well, 
until Arthur was arrested for firing a gun, either inside his home, in the 
direction of his neighbor's house, or both (reports on this incident seem to 
contradict each another). I don't want to get into it too much, but, as 
Arthur already had priors, he ended up serving six years of an eight year 
sentence. The one good thing that came out of this was that his legend 
increased in his absence. He performed a comeback show in Chicago to 
approximately 500 people in 2002. He'd only played to about 75 people 
here a little more than eight years earlier. Arthur emerged, still in 
beautiful voice (though somewhat hoarse at the Chi-Town gig, Arthur 
still came through like a champ, as he did in his two remaining visits to 
Chicago), and even dressing as sharp as ever. His tours got bigger and 
bigger, and extended themselves into Europe, where his fanbase was 
enormous. Victory, it seemed, was his, but, suddenly, all this changed 
when he was diagnosed with Leukemia. The prognosis was very bad, 
and, in a few short months, Arthur was gone, but, his soul is free. Happy 
rebirth, Arthur. 

Fred Cole, of latter day Garage legends, Deadmoon, and previously with 
The Lollipop Shoppe and The Weeds (both lesser-known contemporaries 
to Love, and, now, cult faves of the highest degree), was kind enough to 
share the following insights on Arthur Lee: "Arthur was one of the truly 
original greats in the business. | only met him twice, once as a fan in '66, 
and once, in '72 or thereabouts, when I played a show with him in 
Portland. I was always honored to be compared to him in vocal style. We 


173 


still cover "Signed D.C." once in a while. His music will live on, as will his 
memory. He will be in my heart forever... 

Sterno - Sterno (real name: Paul. His surname is still a mystery to most) was a 
fixture on the Chicago music scene for years. While not a musician, as such, he 
still had a rare talent for finding the (seemingly) elusive thread that runs 
through all types of music. He was known, by many, as "that guy who turns up 


“at ALL the shows.” A welcome presence at any gig, Sterno made it a point to 


attend as many shows as possible, even after he was stricken with two forms of 
cancer. This sudden, totally unexpected, turn of events, did not deter him, 
however. Between treatments and hospital stays, Sterno tried to see his favorite 
bands, and spend quality time with friends, of which he had many, and took it 
hard when he had to be kept away from either. Some people knew him better 
than I did, while others only knew him in passing, but all had good things to 
say about him. We all tried to be hopeful for his sake, even after he'd stated that 
hope was all gone (Sterno communicated with his friends via the personals 
section in the Chicago Reader, the old school way to keep people posted before 
the Internet). Every time I saw him, he looked remarkably well, and was in 
great spirits. You wouldn’t have known his health had taken such a sharp turn 
for the worse if you didn’t know all the facts. It was, of course, deeply 
saddening to learn of his recent passing, but, also, a relief to know that his 
suffering is over, and that, most likely, Arthur and Syd wanted him to have a 
front row seat at the BIG show. 

ONE MORE THING: Don Hedeker's informed me that Lil’ Wally, The Polka 
King, just passed away.-Of course, Wally was a fixture on 
Division/Ashland/Damen, when that area was known as "The Polish 
Broadway,” and many people considered him the King of the pure Polka, as 
Frankie Yankovic was pretty saturated, by comparison. Though he's retired to 
Miami years ago, he performed 3 times at The Zakopane on Division in recent 
years, and even had an audience with Pope John Paul II. He even recorded the 
Pro-Rock ‘n’ Roll "We Love You Beatles Polka,” his 1950s White Sox tribute 
song was revived as an anthem for the 2005 World Series champions, and he 
was, accurately, referred to by Hedeker as "The Johnny Thunders of Polka" for 
his loose, fun loving style as a performer...Hedeker’s band, the Polkaholics just 
completed a new song called "What if Lil’ Wally Met Johnny Thunders?” 

They also served: Nikki Sudden, Billy Preston, Franklin Cover (Tom Willis 
on The Jeffersons), Gordon Terry (fiddle player for The Grand Old Opry, 
Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Faron Young, etc), Fred Garrity (Freddie and 
The Dreamers), Desmond Dekker, Paul Marco ("Kelton The Cop" from the 
Ed Wood movies), Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows Producer), Peter Wells (Rose 
Tattoo), Maureen Stapleton, King Floyd, Lindsay Shonteff (directed The 
Devil Doll, Curse of The Voodoo, etc), Dennis Weaver, Darren McGavin, 
Peter Benchley (wrote Jaws, The Deep. etc), Carroll Anderson (managed 
Surf Ballroom and arranged the flight that Holly, Valens, and The Big Bopper 
died on), Clifford Antone (owned the popular Austin Blues venue, Antone's), 
Lenny Dee, Johnny Fortune, Alex St. Clair (Captain Beefheart's Magic 
Band), Jack Jackson (founder of Rip Off Press), George Kashdan (D.C. 
Comics writer/ editor), Seth Fisher (Marvel / D.C. artist), Alex Toth 
(cartoonist, Space Ghost, Johnny Quest); Dick Rockwell (assistant to Milton 
Caniff on the "Steve Canyon" strip, also Norman Rockwell's nephew), Lew 
Anderson (Clarabell The Clown), Phil Walden (founder, Capricorn Records), 
Kenneth Scott (The Strikes, Rockabilly Hall of Famer), Bonnie Owens, 
Grant McLennan (Go Betweens), Janette Carter (Carter Family), Johnny 
Grande (Bill Haley and The Comets). 

Get Well : Sean Connery, Lee Hazelwood, Freddy Fender, Keith Richards, 
Scotty Moore, Dale Hawkins, Jerry Lewis, Ray Dennis Steckler, and Gary 
" Gary Elvis " Scheppers, King of Chicago Soundmen. 

For those who don't know, the fine movie and music magazine, Psychotronic 
Video, for which it was my honor to sometimes contribute, has, unfortunately, 
been put to rest. Editor, Michael Weldon, will continue to post articles on his 
website at psychotronicvideo.com 


IN THE GOOD NEWS DEPT.: 


Congratulations to my good friend, Bob Woodrum, former drummer for the 
Cramps-influenced Chicago Garage band, The Bone Drivers, and, currently, 
The Cramps’ road manager, upon his recent marriage. 

The lovely Christine Dollrod has had to leave her post with the most as The 
Demolition Dollrods' drummer, as she and her love jones, Scotty, former 
Chicago resident and sweetheart of a guy, had a baby girl! Pending Christine's 
departure, a revamped Dollrods have resumed playing out, with new drummer. 











Tia Dollrod, in tow, and have just come off a tour of Europe. Best 
wishes to both parties. Bruce "The Italian Stallion" Ciero. my great 
friend of many years, and my former editor at Bad Trip, has just informed 
me that, at age 51, he's going to be a Father! I was just as surprised as he 
was. In all seriousness, Bruce and the Mother-to-be, Dana, are doing 
great, and we wish them all the be 


























their lives enter a new and 
exciting chapter (Bruce, when you go to the hospital, just remember, they 
haven't lost a Daddy yet!). Idol of a generation, Bobby Conn, and his 
wife, Julie, recently had an addition to their family, Claudia along with 
their talented son, Augie. Mazeltoy, y'all! Chris Connelly (of Ministry, 
Revolting Cocks, solo artist and prince among men) and his charming 
wife, Shayna, are expecting their first bairn (as they're called in Chris's 
native tongue). Nice one, mate! Rick Miller, from Southern Culture on 
The Skids, and his wife, Sarah, are now the proud parents of a son, Jack, 
and danged if he ain't a cute lil’ feller. Rick tells me that he yearns for the 
day he'll be able to show Jack his first Monster movie! Til then, a little 
strip of cotton candy on the baby's chin will give him that perfect "Fred 
Ziffel beard" for photo ops. Ted Roddy, Texas Music Hall of Famer, 
great singer and song stylist, and my friend of many years, is now a 
Daddy for the second time. He and his wife, Meredith, just had a baby 
girl. Last but not least, Jake Austen and Jackie Stewart had their second 
child, a boy named Noble, and, I can assure you, his or her combined 
cuteness, with that of big Sister Maiya's, will be blinding 











TICKETS AVAILABLE AT EMPTYBOTTLE.COM OR BY CALLING (866) 468-3402 


aaa Mier 














NYC and Me by Mary Scura 


The Lower East Side used to have such a vibrant street life. Such great characters walking around. Hell, | was one of ‘em. On any 
given day maybe you'd see Joey Ramone bopping down Avenue B. We used to call him "the mosquito" because he was so tall and 
thin and gangly and, well, he /ooked like a fucking mosquito. He wanted people to call him "the snake," but he just wasn't the snake 
type. He was always "the mosquito" to me. | remember Iggy Pop saying that Joey was a fucking landmark...not in the literal sense, of 
course...but he was, ya know? 

Then there was Johnny Thunders, who you'd see once and awhile skulking around like another kind of bug entirely. Always on a 
mission from God...well, maybe not from God, exactly. One time | ran into him on Rivington Street and he was green. The man was 
green. | mentioned it to someone that evening and they said, "Oh yeah, he's green alright. But you should see his feet." | didn't press 
for details. Or John Spacely, with his eyepatch and skateboard, always running around, up to no good. But a pleasant fellow 
nonetheless. 

Or Adam Purple. Adam and his wife, Eve. He had long silver hair and a long silver beard and wore purple clothes and purple John 
Lennon glasses. He had a garden shaped like a huge yin/yang symbol that was maybe a quarter of an acre large. Right in the middle 
of all this squalor, they had created this beautiful garden on Eldridge Street. It had been a vacant lot next to the abandoned building 
they were squatting in. You'd see him on his bicycle riding around town or collecting horseshit in Central Park. They were old-school 
hippies. Then in the '80s the city started rehabbing and gentrifying the neighborhood, and they were thrown out of the garden. Now 
there's an apartment building there. | don't know what happened to the Purple People. 

Back then we didn't have the internet to isolate us. If you wanted anybody or anything you had to go down on the street and mix with 
the other animals. Whether you liked it or not. At least it forced you to be some kind of social 

It's all gone now. Joey, Johnny, Spacely, Adam, Eve, the garden. Replaced by what...another New York, another Soho, another 
neighborhood where corner delis and fruit stands have been replaced by Starbucks and other high-priced shiny toys. New York is a 
different town now, and | am a different person. | used to look like a stone freak. Dress to be as unapproachable as possible and 
people will leave you the fuck alone. My buddy Vince told me once that | was dressed like "something terrible was going to happen” to 
me. | guess | was. Shades, black leather jacket, pants and boots. Now of course everyone looks like that, even the fucking tourists 
sometimes. Now | look relatively normal, | guess, even though I'm still a stone freak. I'm the one everybody asks for directions - kids 
going to their first job interview looking for obscure streets, tourists looking for not-so-obscure streets - you name it, they ask me. They 
ask me because | obviously know where |'m going. I've been here forever. It's written all over my face. New York City has left its mark 
loud and clear on me. | have the scars to prove it. I'm not fucking around. Some people have called me a survivor. But | don't feel like 
a survivor. | feel like I've been living on borrowed time for a long time now. Sure I've survived, but any survivor can tell you that simply 
surviving doesn't necessarily mean you're living. I'm a shadow, a ghost. | walk these streets and I'm a ghost. 





A drawing of Johnny Thunders that Gary, a teacher friend from Scotland sent me; this is by Stevie Clarke, one of his students 
15 











APRIL AND THE FINKEL STEEL MILL 


BY JEAN-EMMANUEL DUBOIS 
April March loves to move! From Hoboken to L.A. From L.A to 
Vermont. From Vermont to Brooklyn. And from Cleveland to N.Y (that 
one for the pop trainspotters in you). The most Francophile of the 
American artists knows how to work with fine people: Kramer; our 
national treasure Bertrand Burgalat (with whom she’s shared a lot of 
artistic adventures); Los Cincos; Brian Wilson; and now the guy from 
the endless summer part of the universe, Steve Hanft. Always mild 
mannered and nice, April is not even upset by the watered down version 
of the yéyé revival by untalented artists in France like Mareva Gelanter 
(who dares to steal ideas she launched 15 years ago). As stated, She 
prefers to move on to new territories 
What so cool about Tricatel and Bertrand Burgalat? 
Well, | guess Tricatel is Bertrand. He has his own artistic integrity, his 
own unique vision as well as broad intelligence, creativity, humor and 
pathos. He knows how to be very serious and ambitious musically but in 
a playful, adventurous and most important of all soulful way. 
Bertrand introduced you to electronic instruments as well. 
The idea of synthesizers, I just thought it was not for me, even though I 
liked other music that was completely synthetic. I had this strict view of 
how things should be recorded. So that's definitively what I learned to 
move away from when I met Bertrand. I was a purist; | did have a 
restricted aesthetic. | don't have that anymore. I think I felt it was hard 
to find someone to trust using synthesizer at that point in time. There 
was a lot that was not so good out there; I had these experiences with 
people who had no vision when it came to synthesizers. They would be 
used simply to replace an instrument that wasn't available or as a 
gimmick but with no warmth or purpose. 
You were one of the first to rehabilitate cool 60's and yéyé French 
music, don't you feel a bit disappointed nowadays, as it has become 
quite trendy and maybe a caricature of itself, especially when less 
talented than you artists are jumping on the Gainsbourg & yéyé 
bandwagon. 
I dunno, for me, it’s just like anything else. I'm just glad it's finally out 
there and accessible. It was so difficult for me to find these records 
when I first got interested. It does create a certain kind of community; 
there was no community like that before in the United States. In New 
York City I was only able to find one album (Sylvie Vartan "gift 
wrapped from paris"). That was back in 1984. I had to hitch rides with 
friends who were playing up in Montreal to find my albums. They didn't 
exist here. So I'm actually really pleased to walk in a supermarket and 
they're playing something like “Contact” (the song Gainsbourg wrote for 
Brigitte Bardot). That's a good thing. It's the good side of globalization 
for a change. 
What do you think of the French media, of the French music biz 
and about touring in France, main differences between France and 
the USA? 
The last time I was around French media was three years ago, so I can't 
really accurately answer that question, because so much has changed in 
three years. It's outrageous, how it has changed. I've changed too, | 
barely read magazines anymore. I just feel overwhelmed by media 
saturation. | used to watch more TV and read more magazines three 
years ago... There is just too much to sort through. And I became a 
mother too. I've heard that it was not so easy to tour in France, like it 
was three years ago. And when you look at the music industry, it's 
almost nonexistent here, so I’m not sure how it is in France. I would just 
say that across the board it's more hospitable in France. I dunno if it's a 
cultural thing. I feel when I tour over in France, I'm a bit more precious 
to the audience, like they are really more focused, perhaps there a not so 
many bands. There's more attention to hospitality and connecting 
socially, with the audiences and club owners in France. 
Tell me about your new album, it's related to Chicago? 
It's been recorded in Los Angeles and the studio it's owned by Jim 
Putnam from the Radar Brothers. His father Bill Putnam was a huge 
innovator in the field of recording technology, particularly with reverb. 
His father recorded Frank Sinatra and many others. Jim has some of his 


76 





father's equipment but more importantly he inherited his father's ear as 
an engineer. He was really amazing to work with. So that was done 
there, and then we mixed at Soma with John McEntire and it was a 
really good experience there too. I loved Soma and John was a perfect 
fit for me in terms of mixing. I'd definitely like to work with him again 
in the future. I love Chicago; it was like New York used to be before it 
was turned into a shopping mall. It seems to be a really great and 
friendly place for creativity. My favorite thing is this place called Finkel 
Steel Mill, it's just in the middle of the city, it's so bizarre, the heat and 
the sound of the fire; it's awesome. It's a huge "fourneau'"; it's operating 
24 hours a day. I went a couple of time after recording at night with a 
friend of mine, standing there was this huge fire. It was amazing. There's 
not too many of these places left in the United States in the middle of the 
city 

What's the direction of your new project? 

The general thing is that I was doing it with a friend of mine named 
Steve Hanft. I met Steve at Cal Arts when I did a year in the Disney 
character animation program. He was in the film department. The 
producer Tom Chasteen is also from Cal Arts. Part of it was that | had 
another baby so it was kinda hard to get something going. It's started as 
kind of a small project and then it grew into a bigger project. The 
general mood? Steve is very Californian; I don’t how to put it any other 
way. I'm very who I am being from the east coast, it's like putting 
Captain Beefheart together with...1 dunno with whom you might 
compare me too (laughs). So our opposing coastal personalities create 
some other personality region and voila. We wrote a lot of songs 
together but then there were a few Steve had previously recorded one of 
which features Elliot Smith on’ piano, which was recorded before he 
died. We alternate, the first track is by me, then Steve, then me and so 
on. It's pop songs, Steve likes all kinds of things from Goblin to Donna 
Summer, he is a surfer, he is also a filmmaker, the songs lyrically are 
very atmospheric and suggest settings--- so in that way we dialogue well 
together. 

You should check: www.tricatel.com - Tricatel released lots of smashing 
albums, April March's "Chrominance Decoder" & "Triggers" along 


with Il maestro Bertrand Burgalat's "Portrait robot". Tricatel is a 
French label with universal appeal; forget all you have heard about 
"continental" pop, Tricatel is worth all your attention (and hard earned 
cash). And visit www.aprilmarch.com 














BERTRAND BURGALAT 


by JEAN-EMMANUEL DUBOIS 





Bertrand Burgalat is one of the most interesting French musicians in the 
Gallic part of the world and beyond. It's always a pleasure to interview 
an artist who deserves to be discovered by the American music fans who 
has a sophisticated outspokenness. His latest album "Portrait Robot" is 
wildly original and allow the sums of it's influences to spoil us with a 
truly original "stew". ; 

JED: Why and how did you decide to create the Tricatel label and 
how do you describe Tricatel to an American reader who maybe 
don't know it? 

Bertrand Burgalat: Like most labels created by musicians I would have 
preferred somebody else to do it, but it was the only solution left to me 
in the mid 90's to release projects from artists that I believed in. I had 
first created Tricatel as a production company enabling me to invoice 
labels when I was doing production or arrangement work for them. I had 
to transform it into a proper label as I couldn't find help ‘when I was 
looking for deals for Etienne Charry or April March. To describe 
Tricatel to an American reader who doesn't know us | would say I have 
been trying to carry on, in my manner, what Mike Always started in the 
80's with El records: doing a fantasy label in which each artist differs 
from the others. 

With April March you was the first to "rehabilitate some music 
and arrangements that a certain rock intelligentsia hated. Like 
punk in it's time, now yéyé, Burt Bacharach, France Gall and other 
things are quoted by any stupid wannabe hipster from Beck to 
Benjamin Biolay, why is it always like that? That cycle from the 
underground to the mainstream, is it like death unavoidable 

1 feel it's always difficult to appreciate music despite the people who 
also do or who don't. There is nothing more encouraging than a good 
song being a hit. I feel mainstream audiences, though oriented by 
marketing, advertising and airplay, are strangely more free than 
underground or indie anudiences, which are always waiting for a kind of 
authorization, to like or dislike something. I have never been disturbed 
by tacky commercial music, fake quality is much more frustrating. 
When | see bobos buying Bjork and pass by Britney Spears' “Toxic” | 
am happy that people who have wealth have such a poor taste, like my 
brother-in-law orthopedist who bought the Koln Concert in the 70s. 
What's your relationship with the USA, it's musical scene? Do you 
have some anecdotes about your "American experience" that may 
depict the country quite accurately from your point of view? 

It is always delicate to generalize but after quite a long time in Paris I 
lack oxygen. | am bored with the conformism, of the musical scene here 
and I guess I would feel the same after a while in any other place. So 
wheu I went to California in ‘96 to work with April March I was 
surprised by the openness and the curiosity of the musical scene there. I 
found musicians much more broad minded than in Paris, where the press 
and the indie radios just wait for the NME judgment to know what they 
have to think of someone. 


TT 


There's quite a lot of American Francophile in the USA, is it nice 
that Godard, Truffaut, Gainsbourg, Hardy, Derrida, Sartre, Piaf, 
Air, Michel Gondry, and Audrey Tautou are always being quoted, 
or is it boring after a while? 

Yes it is touching, and as any exoticism, it has its limits, but I don't see 


- why Americans should have dug on the French things that the French 


themselves are unaware of. And there is plenty of dreadful French bands 
or movies that are not successful in the U.S. 

Do you think that France is an active place creatively speaking? 
What's killing the country? I have the feeling that French audiences 
are curling up back to a 50s-like passeist view of the country (with 
revivalists films like Les Enfants Du Marais/The Children of the 
Marshland or Amélie Poulain) 

You are quite right. France ends up resembling the cliché some 
Americans had of it 30 years ago: fashion, museums, monuments, 
Chateaux de la Loire and Marie-Antoinette. Symmetrically our cinema, 
our television and our chanson stick to the image we had 30 years ago of 
the American trash. You would see our TV series, they make "Who's 
The Boss" look like it was shot by Michael Powell. 

As sometimes journalists are lazy sods, we don't know much your 
taste for 70s experimental rock and 80s industrial music. But don't 
you think that people like Boyd Rice & Throbbing Gristle have done 
more for the rehabilitation of Martin Denny than the revivalist 
bands like Combustible Edison? Generally speaking there's a lot of 
connections between easy listening and industrial music. Anyway, 
these musics used to upset the same kind of people who took 10 
years to finally appreciate it and digested off the earliest fans that 
used to get insulted? 

Yes, there is always a long path between the moment a musical genre 
emerges and the time it really spreads everywhere. I have forgotten who 
said that Nirvana was the first planetary punk success. However it is less 
a shame than the move from Test Department to Nine Inch Nails, there 
is always 10 to 15 years between the birth of a style and its huge 
success, and you can verify it even with the Beatles, who hit when 
everyone thought rock and roll was a faded trend (but they were better 
than Trent Reznor). 

What "out of the ordinary" French music do you recommend, the 
kind of Roctober readers should discover? 

In Chanson there are beautiful songs from Pierre Vassiliu (Film, J'ai 
Trouvé Un Journal Dans Le Hall De L'aéroport, Dans Ma Maison 
D'amour), Dick Annegarn (Coutances), Claude Nougaro (Pommier de 
Paradis, C'est ga La Vie). Léo Ferré is typically the kind of artist, like 
the Velvet Underground, that people who like him cut you any desire of 
listening to him: sad boring teachers, but there is a period of him, 
albums like “La Solitude,” “Il N'y a Plus Rien,” where his music and his 
arrangements are what has been the nearest to Ravel, it's sumptuous. 

The label projects? 

I am very tired and slightly bitter, discouraged to have to struggle all the 
time. I love making music but I hate having to fight all the time to 
get distribution or licenses so I would really prefer to have a "normal" 
job and do that on weekends, Anyway, the last signature on the label 
was last year, an 11 years old girl, Allegra, who writes her own songs. 
We recorded a couple of tracks but I couldn't get any deals and interest 
on her so now she is going to go to a boarding school. I have just 
produced a 4 tracks ep from a 17 year old band called les Shades, I don't 
know yet how we are going to release it. And I am doing a new album; 
recording is going very smoothly, it will be finished by the end of 
August. There will be lyrics again from Alfreda Benge and also 
Jonathan Coe. 

Tell me about the pregnancy of your last album, was it-easy, or did 
you have to use forceps and practice a caesarean? 

It was rather easy, much more than “The Sssound of Mmmusic,”'which 
was recorded in ‘96 and released in 2000, just like a doo-wop album that 
would come out in ‘67. Every time I finish a record | feel the hardest is 
done but in fact the pain is when I need to find distribution and licenses, 
and I never found a way to do all this happily. 

One last word for our American friends! 

Diet Coke forever. 








rULL CIRCLe 


The Wa / fer Tr Ou tinterview 


By Ken Burke 


Walter Trout enjoys solid pockets of support in the Unites States, but the 
New Jersey native is a veritable rock and blues god in Europe, where he 
routinely headlines major tours and releases albums to great critical 
acclaim. A superior lead guitarist with an intense, slashing style, his 
work echoes the experimental freedom of Jimi Hendrix, the jammy sting 
of Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the speedy phrasing of Eddie Van Halen. 
An impassioned singer who handles both hard rockers and slow blues 
with naked, cathartic emotion, he is one of the last great purveyors of the 
sweat-stained art of rock showmanship. 

A former member of latter-day editions of Canned Heat (1980 -1984) 
and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (1984 - 1989), Trout became a solo 
star one night in Denmark when Mayall was too sick to perform. After 
he and bandmate Coco Montoya staged an incendiary, crowd-pleasing 
performance, a promoter offered Trout a chance to record and tour under 
his own name, By the end of his first solo tour, he was packing major 
houses all over the continent. 

Recording for the Provogue label, Trout toured with Elton John, enjoyed 
a number one hit with his song “The Love That We Once Knew,” and 
has had videos on European MTV’s power rotation. That said, most 
Americans - this writer included - didn’t hear about this riveting blues 
rocker until he signed with Ruf Records out of Germany 

Trout’s work for Ruf has been remarkably passionate and highly 
entertaining. His current album, Full Circle, pays tribute to his days as a 
sideman while cementing his reputation as a king of his genre. Enlisting 
the aid of such distinctive artists as Jeff Healey, Joe Bonamassa, Coco 





Montoya, Bernard Allison, and old boss John Mayall, Trout not only 
provides his legend n musical microcosm, but he duels brilliantly with 
some of the best pickers on the planet 

I spoke to the 55-year-old singer-songwriter via phone from Ohio, where 
he was preparing to play some Midwestern shows. Affable, articulate, 
and emotionally energetic, Trout spoke with great clarity of his family, 
early experiences, career highlights (and low lights), and about the new 
album Full Circle. 

Ken Burke: Tell us a bit about your musical environment while 
growing up. 

Walter Trout: I grew up on an island right on the coast of New Jersey 
called Ocean City which is south of Atlantic City. I was really lucky in 
that, even though my parent were-not musicians, they were both 
incredible afficionados and lovers of music. I heard it in the house all 
the time. There was anything playing from Duke Ellington to Count 
Basie to John Coltrane to Bill Monroe to Hank Williams to Ray Charles 
- a lot of Ray Charles - to man, you name it! Every style was always 
being played 

KB: What happened when your folks found out you were serious 
about the music? 

WT: My parents, when they realized that [ dug music, they started 
taking me to hear musicians at an early age. I remember my father 
taking me to a black jazz club in Atlantic City when I was a little kid to 
see a pianist named Ahmed Jamaal, who I was a fan of. I remember my 
dad also took me to see Gary U.S. Bonds and Chuck Berry on a bill. My 
mom took me to see James Brown, Ray Charles , Harry Belefonte, Andy 
Williams, Lou Rawls. We saw Duke Ellingtton and Ella Fitzgerald on 
numerous occasions and Tony Bennett. We were always going to hear 
music live, I also saw the Philadelphia orchestra on many occasions. So, 
they were incredibly hip. I can still remember and walking in - and my 
mother had a Ray Charles record, his Country & Western record - 
playing on the record player in the living room and she was crying like a 
baby at the song. They were not afraid to show their feelings. They were 
really soulful, great folks. So, I was really lucky on that account 

KB: Your folks had very eclectic tastes didn’t they? 

WT: Yeah. They loved any kind of music. When the British Invasion 
happened, my mom would sit around with me and tell me that the 
Rolling Stones were so great. “I love that guy with the big lips,” she 
said. (Chuckles.) They also took me to a lot of Broadway musicals, They 
were just really cool abut exposing me to the performing arts. When | 
was ten years old, my mom arranged somehow for me to spend an entire 
after-oon hanging out with Duke Ellington and his orchestra. She went 
with me and we went to a theater in South Jersey. I was shown into the 
dressing room after the orchestra had done their sound check they were 
going to wait three or four hours for their concert. I got to hang out with 
them in their dressing room, I was an aspiring trumpet player and | got 
to sit down have guys like Cat Anderson, Johnny Hodges, and Paul 
Gonzales talk to me about jazz and music. Then, Duke Ellington sat 
down on a couch with me and talked about the music business and what 
I could expect if I went into it. One of the things he told was, “Always 
keep your focus on being an artist and don’t look for the glory Try to 
have a career of longevity and not be a one-hit wonder. Concentrate on 
being the best that you can be on your instrument and think of it as an 
art and not show-business.” It was an amazing day. So, that’s the story 
of my folks. They were incredible 

KB: When did you get your first guitar? 

WT: My brother brought home a guitar for me when I was about ten- 
years-old and he was about fifteen. He had a girlfriend at school who 
had given him a guitar and he didn’t really feel like playing it. He knew 
I played the trumpet pretty well, so he said, “Here's a guitar,” He knew 
that I was listening to a lot of Bob Dylan and Chad Mitchell Trio and 
Peter Paul and Mary. That was the year that Dylan’s first album came 
out. They had Hootenanny on televison. I got into the folk music thing 
and I was a big fan of the Chad Mitchell Trio and I still am actually. I 
think he was an incredible singer. If you get the old records out and you 
play “Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out,” I don’t think 
anybody has ever sung that song any better than Chad Mitchell. He was 
a great vocalist. 


78 








KB: How did you make the leap from folk to blues? 
WT: It wasn't that big of a leap. If you watched things like Hootenanny, 
they have people like Josh White on there and Mississippi John Hurt. 
' But when they electric guitar thing came about, I was already playing 
guitar for a while and had gotten pretty good at strumming chords and 
singing “Blowing in the Wind” and “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” at . 
parties. Along came the Beatles and I was thirteen and the impact they 
had on those of us that were that age - you can’t even describe it now. 
They took over all of our lives for a while. That made me want to get an 
electric guitar, Then, | can remember - my brother by the way, was a 
music afficionado who was always bringing home somebody's record 
and saying, “You've gotta hear this.” Anybody from John Coltrane to 
Pharaoh Sanders to Ralph Stanley to the Holy Model Rounders to you 
name it, he was bringing ‘em home and saying, “Wow, wait till you hear 
who I discovered today. So, he brought home an album and said, “Sit 
down and listen to this guy play the guitar.” It was the first Paul 
Butterfield album which featured Mike Bloomfield on guitar - the one 
with “Born in Chicago” on it. We sat down with that and that changed 
my life. That day my life changed forever. The trumpet went away and I 
knew what I wanted to do right then. 
KB: When did the harmonica come into the mix? 
WT: The harmonica, I had played since I was a little kid. As a matter of 
fact, when | was in the fourth grade, me and a buddy of mine had a 
harmonica duo. At Christmas, we'd go around and knock on doors and 
instead of singing Christmas carols we'd play ‘em on harmonicas and 
we'd make money that way, We cleaned up for little kids. We could 
makes ten bucks apiece a night doing that. So, | had always had played 
the harmonica, but when I heard Butterfield, that screwed me up. 
(Laughs.) I went at it pretty heavily there for a while and I wanted to be 
thought of, not just as a guitarist, but as a harmonica player. That did 
kind of fade throughout the years. 
KB: You're also a prolific and accomplished songwriter. Did that 
start early on? 
WT: That started very early on. That started at fourteen or fifteen. I had 
a hit in Europe on my second album. | had a major number one hit in 
Europe in 1990 or 91 with a song that I wrote when I was sixteen about 
my first girlfriend. It's called “The Love That We Once Knew,” I re- 
‘recorded it on “Living Everyday,” to see what would happen over here 
with it, but nothing ever did. It was like a power ballad. I had written it 
as a folk song on an acoustic guitar and | used to actually do a lot of gigs 
in Jersey as a folksinger, playing acoustic guitar and singing. I did that 
even when I moved to California when I was twenty-three. Some of my 
first gigs were playing in restaurants as an acoustic act. I still have my 
set list. I did every Beatles song, every Jackson Browne song, I just did 
tons of stuff by myself and I worked - I got a lot of work. 
KB: There’s a track on Deep Trout that you recorded back in 1972 
and you were a very polished performer for a youngster. 
WT: Well, thank you. My music might have been polished but | was 
living on my own for the first time, and my body certainly wasn’t. 
(Chuckles.) I was living in a little house with that band. We were taking 
funk to new levels back then. We were hygienically challenged at that 
point, 
KB: You sing with every bit of heart and soul at your command. 
That’s very cathartic for the listener, but is it difficult for you to 
keep meaning it night after night? 
WT: You know what, it’s not difficult to keep meaning it, because for 
me it’s therapy. When I was about seven years old, my parents did 
divorce and they both got remarried. My mother remarried a guy who 
had been a prisoner of war for the Japanese and had a lot of emotional 
problems. He was an alcoholic and he would get violent and try to 
murder my brother and | with axes and shotguns. We'd climb out of 
windows and we'd go sleep in the woods. If you listen to a song of mine 
called “Collingswood,” it’s in there. It took me thirty-five years to write 
that and when I wrote it, [ had a nervous breakdown. So, the music and 
guitar became therapy for me. It became an outlet, a refuge, and a 
sanctuary where | could climb in and hide. I could also get a lot of stuff 
out of me. A lot of times in my youth when I'd perform, I’d almost find 
it embarrassing because I'd put so music of myself into it that when I'd 


79 


come off stage I'd think, “Well, I was just standing naked before these 
people. I just dropped my pants and said here I am.” It’s always kind of 
been like that. It’s hard for some people to take. Also, some people can’t 
tune into that. I want to go deep, and the music that I grew up loving - a 
lot of it is deep and you're seeing who that person is. If you allow 
yourself to open up to it, it can be a life changing experience. To this 
day, some of that early Ray Charles stuff - there’s some stuff that when I 
put it on, I can’t be around other people, because | might fall on the 
ground into a fetal position and weep like a baby. So, I try to do that. I 
find that as I get older, with the schedule I'm on - I’m working every 
night and driving eight hours a day - it’s hard to put that much into it, 
but I have to. I have to get those emotions in there. To me, that’s what 
it’s all about. 

KB: I was surprised to learn you had played with a country band - 
the Jive Bombers. ' 
WT: The Jive Bombers were my first gig in California when I moved 
out there. They were a bluegrass and country band. I went to see ‘em 
and I said, “I’m a guitar player, can I sit in?” They said, “Well, we have 
a guitar player.” Then | said, “I noticed that nobody in your band really 
can sing.” They said, “Well, get up and sing.” So, I knew some Hank 
Williams tunes and I sang with them. They said, “OK, we need a singer 
- you're in!” I had a couple of days before the next gig, so 1 went home, 
sat down, and I learned every Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and Hank 
Williams tune to sing with this traditional bluegrass and country band. I 
learned all those tunes and I was the stand up lead singer. We were the 
houseband at a club in Corona Del Mar. We worked five nights a week 
and I just stood there and sang. I kept telling them, “Look, I'm a guitar 
player.” They’d say, “We have a guitar player.” With my first check, I 
went out and bought the Stratocaster that you see on the cover of 
Relentless. \t was white. | brought it in and I said, “Look man, | just 
bought this Strat. I just want to play it with the band and see how it 
sounds.” They said, “Well, OK.” I got up and played a song and they got 
all excited, “You didn’t tell us you could play like that!” (Chuckles.) I 
said, “I've been trying to tell you that for three weeks.” That night I 
ended up as the lead guitarist. By the end of my tenure there, | 
eventually turned them from a country bluegrass into band that played 
Chuck Berry, early Stones. They ended up losing their regular gig 
because they went too rock'n'roll. But They were a great band. They 
had Steve Van Gelder who went on to be a sideman for years with Dolly 
Parton. They had David Hartshein on harmonica, who did a bunch of 
solo albums for Rounder. It was a really good band. 

KB: Early on, you spent some time with the Righteous Brothers? 
WT: The true story of that is that I actually played with one of ‘em. It's 
mythologized as being with the Righteous Brothers. When they had 
broken up in the mid-70's, | played rhythm guitar for Bobby Hatfield. 
Even though they were no longer together, one of the gigs we did at the 
time was a place out in Fountain Valley, California called Medley’s - 
which was owned by Bill Medley. It was his restaurant and we would 
play there quite a bit. Once in a while Bill Medley would come up and 
sing, even though they were no longer recording together and they'd had 
feuds professionally - they were still friends. So, when we would play at 
Bill's club, he’d get up there and sing and I'd be playing with the 
Righteous Brothers. But they were not officially still the Righteous 
Brothers at the time. They were pursuing solo careers. 

KB: The Righteous Brothers were always trying to find a pop 
avenue for their love of r&b and blues. Could you sympathize with 
that? 

WT: Oh yeah man, | sure could. | have to say though, I loved their 
records and they’re also one of the acts that my mother took me to see 
when they were big. One of the very first records I ever bought was 
“You've Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” I actually remember that my mom 
was yelling at me about cleaning my room, where | had thrown all the 
stuff under the bed. She said, “You need to get this room together.” | 
had the radio on and that song came on. It was a brand new record - the 
first time I ever heard it. About ten seconds into that song , | sat down 
and listened to the song and was floored. I went out and bought it later 
that day. So, when I got to stand on the stage and play rhythm guitar 
while those guys were actually singing it, it was a very moving thing for 














me. It meant a lot. 

KB: Working as a sideman - what is the procedure there? They see 
you in a club and hire you for a tour or club gig? 

WT: That's right. You get a reputation then because you've been seen. 
Once I got my first sideman job, I was never without work. For 
example: I’m doing a gig backing up Big Mama Thornton and John Lee 
Hooker's there. He’s on the bill and he says in his own inimitable style, 
(imitates Hooker) “Would you like to get up and play with my band?” 
So, I got up and played and ended up in his band. Through playing with 
his band, I get heard by some members of Canned Heat and they say, 
“We have a tour of Australia and Henry is drinking too much, would 
you do the tour?” I did the tour and ended up with a four-year gig. As 
soon as | got into Canned Heat, we got a gig opening up for John Mayall 
and the Bluesbreakers - he’s out them back together with Mick Taylor 
and John McVie - and the second night, John Mayall says, “I’d like to 
hear you play second guitar to Mick Taylor.” So, he has me come up 
and play with him and Mick Taylor. Then, when he put together his new 
band without the superstars, he calls me. You just go from one band to 
the other. A lot of the gigs were a step up and a few of them were a step 
back. Joe Tex was really interesting, but nothing much came of that. I do 
remember him telling me that he had been to visit James Brown, who 
was his friend from the old days, and he told us that James was all 
wasted on angel dust, I looked at Joe and I thought, “You jealous son of 
a bitch. You’re jealous of him. I know you are. You started out together 
and he has kicked your ass and you're just spreading shit.” I found out 
later that Joe was actually telling the truth - as we all found out. 

KB: Tell us about your association with Finis Tasby. 
WT: I love the guy, He’s like my dad or something. As I wrote in the 
liner notes [for the new album Full Circle], he was the bass player for 
Freddie King for years. He was the bass player for John Lee Hooker 
when | played for him. His band and I also backed up Big Mama 
Thornton. We also backed up Lowell Fulsom; O.V. Wright, the singer. 
But I always thought that he was an incredible singer - with his own 
band he was the stand-up lead singer. Later, when I was with John 
Mayal, when I'd come off the road, | had the houseband at a little bar in 
Huntington Beach, Finis was my lead singer. At one point, in that little 
bar band, | had Ritchie Hayword on drums, Jesse Ed Davis on second 
guitar, I had all these amazing musicians coming in there and playing. 
Mick Taylor came in there and played, Garth Hudson came in and 
played, It was amazing. It was just a little bar at the beach. Finis was 
nominated for a W.C, Handy award this past year. He’s now the lead 
singer for a band called The Mannish Boys. He also did a bunch of the 
lead vocals on the album that came out by Kirk Fletcher, whose a great 
guitarist with the Fabulous Thunderbirds now. So, in his old age, Finis is 
finally starting to get the recognition he deserves. I've always thought he 
was an incredible singer and | had a blast in that guy’s band. I was the 
only Caucasian there and we did a lot of gigs around Watts where I’d be 
the only white guy and I was a young kid. They treated me so 
respectfully and so nice. They were all such fans of my playing and I 
learned so much from him and those guys. Deacon Jones was in that 
band also. To get those guys back and have them play on my CD really 
meant a lot of to me. 

KB: Is the traditional blues- rock power trio augmented with 
keyboard your preferred musical set up? 

WT: Yeah. I don't like the power trio. I never have. I've always wanted 
a fourth instrument, be it another guitar or a keyboard. When I’m 
soloing, I want to hear the chords behind me. When I'm singing certain 
songs, I want to do the thing where I’m not playing rhythm, but I’m 
singing a line and then answering it on guitar - the B.B. King thing you 
know. I want to hear chords behind me. The trio thing has always been 
really hollow to me when I’m in it. I like listening to some of them, but 
when I'm playing, I’m not a fan of it. Too much space. You can tell by 
my playing, that if | hear a space, I want to fill it. I can’t help it. 

KB: Do youread music? 

WT: I studied the trumpet and I studied theory. With the guitar, I taught 
myself. So, I don’t really read guitar music. Although, with Bobby 
Hatfield, it was all charts. I had to work on those charts. He gave me 
those charts and I took ‘em home and worked on ‘em, and I played just 





80 





fine. But if I was at a rehearsal with him and he said, “Here’s a new 
song.” I'd have to really fumble through it, take it home that night, and 
work like hell to get it together. 

KB: Do the arrangements for your own mi I endeavors come 
together naturally or are they painstakingly contrived? 

WT: They come together naturally. I hear it in my head. I say, “At this 
part, you need to do this. And this guy over here needs to do this. We’re 
going to get quiet here and we’re going to get loud here.” Actually, it’s 
the John Mayall thing of: You find musicians that have chemistry, and 
then they play together naturally. A lot of that doesn’t even have to be 
spoken, it’s just felt among the four of you. It’s definitely instinctual, 
that’s why you've got to have guys who communicate with each other 
and kind of the same vision of how it should sound 

KB: Speaking of John Mayall, when you’re working with someone 
like this who used to be your boss, is that an awkward situation? 

WT: Well, I can tell you that when he came in [to do his tracks for Full 
Circle}, that | was fully prepared by five years of being in his band and 
making three albums - and doing a thousand shows with hin 
naturally expected him to come in and take over the session. I was fully 
prepared for that. But he came in, sat down, looked at me and said, “OK 
You tell me, what are we doing?” I said, “Well...1 don’t know, How 
about we'll do a slow blues. We'll do it in c-minor. You play the piano 
I'll write some words, start it off with a guitar chorus. I'll sing a verse, 
you sing a verse, play a harp solo. I'll sing a verse and then play a guitar 
solo and we'll end it, OK?” He said, “Yeah - here we go.” We counted 
to four and there ‘we went. It was completely spontaneous We did do the 
vocals over again because I wasn’t really sure when we first did the 
track, what the words were going to be. We sat down and listened to the 
track and I said, “OK, give me twenty minutes and Ill write some words 
for this and we'll go out and sing it.” 

KB: Was it difficult to re-establish the musical chemistry you 
formerly enjoyed with John Mayall and Coco Montoya? 











I just 






WT: No, it was just second nature. I played so much with those guys 
and we went through so much together. We went through getting sober 
together and those guys are my brothers - full on. We all have really 
deep love and respect for each other and that’s why those guys showed 
up at my session. That was there way of saying, “Hey Walter, man, we 
love you, and we respect what you’re doing and thanks for giving us the 
call.” This was not a big budget CD, All these guys came in and did this 
and there's a lot of love going on in this CD. It felt good playing with 
those guys. It was just heartfelt. After the Mayall thing, I went home and 
put that opening track on | fell apart. | still have a hard time listening to 
that track. I can’t listen to it when I’m driving because I’m going to tear 
up and drive off the road. That track tears me up. 

KB: I also like the fast number you and Mayall did together. 

WT: There's a good story about John in that. I fully expected him to 
say, “OK, we've got your song, now I need to go home. I have some 
things I need to do with my family.” But he came in, and that slow blues 
was not rehearsed. It was discussed for about five minutes and then it 
was “Here we go!” So, we recorded the track, we listened to it, I wrote 
the words then he recorded his harp, we sang it, then I was ready to say 
“OK John, it’s been great seeing ya.” But he went out to his car, came 











back with a guitar case, pulled out a guitar and said, “Hey Walter, let’s 
write a song together - we've never done that.” He came up with the 
chord structure and the melody and then we came up with the idea that 
we're both road dogs and we spend so much of our time on the road 
That song got written in about ten minutes. We explained it to the band, 
counted to four, and there we went. But I never expected him to be on 
two tracks, that was his choice. I was ecstatic. | know from other artists 
whose CDs he’s appeared on, they told me, “He comes in, he plays his 
part, and he’s out the door.” But he didn’t do that with me. He hung out 
all day. He only finally left when Joe Bonamassa came in and I said, 
“OK John, Joe’s here. I’ve got to do something with him now.” John 
was like, “OK, I guess I'll go home then.” 

KB: In your liner notes, you wrote that blues purists don’t 
necessarily like what you and Joe do. How do the opinions of blues 
purists affect your work? 

WT: It doesn’t. I don’t care. I just have to look in the mirror and be 
honest. Everybody doesn’t have to like everything. If somebody doesn’t 
want to listen to what I’m doing, I really don’t care and I don’t have 
time. I'm more concerned with the people who like what I do and giving 
them my best work. Giving them something that’s honest so I can look 
in the mirror and go, “Well, that’s me. I just gave them who I am.” And, 
this is who I am. If God puts ten thousand notes into my head and my 
heart, that’s what I’m going to play at that moment. I’m not going to 
say, “Uh-Oh, there might be a purist out there who won’t like this phrase 
- there’s too many notes.” As a matter of fact, on my tour T-shirts that I 
sell at the gigs, I want everybody to know what they’re in for so I don’t 
have to hear about it. So on the front it reads: Walter Trout and the 
Radicals. On the back of the shirt in big letters it says: Too many notes! 
Too loud! (Laughter.) Sometimes a purist will come up and say, “Man 
you played too many notes and you're too loud.” Then I'll hand him a 
shirt and say, “I glad you understand what I’m trying to do.” I don’t 
have time for all that bullshit. 

KB; You did a pre-war style acoustic blues with Eric Sardinas that 
I felt was truly excellent. Have you ever considered doing a full- 
blown acoustic set? 

WT: | hadn’t really thought about it. After I did that track with Eric, I 
thought about doing an acoustic record someday. I don’t know if my 
fans, who like the electric stuff, would like it though. Also, I have to be 
honest. I can’t blaze on an acoustic guitar. I have yet to find an acoustic 
guitar that has a neck like Stratocaster, where you can just play limitless 
and just bend strings all to hell and fly. I know other guys do. God, 
listen to John McLaughlin. But I haven’t found that guitar yet. When I 
do, maybe I'll do an acoustic album and then I can still play too many 
notes. 

KB: “Slap Happy” with Junior Watson, might be the fastest I’ve 
ever heard you play. 

WT: Well, I will tell you man, that cut is about two and a half minutes, 
and at the end of it, I almost fell over. Those guys were looking at me 
like, “What's wrong, man?” I couldn’t breathe and I was saying, “How 
the hell do you guys do this?” Even though they’re playing it at that 
speed, they're not trying to play sixteenth notes in there. They have a 
whole other approach. When | listen to it now, I might have played my 
solo a little differently. That’s a different genre for me, that I’ve never 
really been in, and I had a ball. Those guys are awesome. I think you can 
tell from my liner notes that my respect for Junior Watson is over the 
top. I'm in awe of that guy. But after that was over I was like, “Holy 
shit, that was like running a marathon in two minutes.” 

KB: In the liner notes, you mentioned that your track with Bernard 
Allison spurred the most emotional session of the album. Why was 
that? 

WT: Well Luther Allison was a good friend of mine, dating back to the 
early to mid-80's. He and I played together with John Mayall at the 
Montrose Jazz Festival one night and we hung out afterwards. We 
became really good friends and I’m friends with his with his wife. After 
he died, his wife sent me a nice letter and told me that one of my songs 
was helping her deal with her grief. She thanked me for that song. So, 
we're close and I’ve known Bernard since he was a teenager before he 
started playing really. I’ve known him since he was a kid. When 


81 












he agreed to be on there, he said, “What are we going to do?” J just 
thought about it for a second and said, “Man, let’s do a tribute to your 
pop. Let’s do one of his tunes.” He was like, “Yeah man, what a cool 
idea.” Then he showed up with his father’s guitar. He was playing and 
looking at me and he was pointing to the sky and he goes, “Dad’s really 
glad I’m doing this.” We were all bawling. There was tears going down 
in there. So, it was very emotional. 

KB: Tell us a little about your relationship with another guest star, 
James Harman. 

WT: Well, when I first moved to California to seek my fame and 
fortune as a guitarist and I didn’t know anybody, the only way I could 
see to get started was to go around the nightclubs, going to bands and 
saying, “I’m a guitar player, may I sit in?” The first person that allowed 
me to get up and play a song was James Harman in ‘74. He was playing 
in a little club in Costa Mesa. I played one song and he said, “Why don't 
you slow down, get to know some of those notes, you might like ‘em.” 
We didn’t really get along, but I ended up starting a band with his bass 
player, and we ended up getting a job as a houseband in a great night 
club in Costa Mesa. When James was going through his divorce, he 
would come in and sit in with us and bring various musicians with him. 
He brought Junior Watson in there a couple of times, he brought Phil 
Alvin - who went on to start the Blasters - he brought a lot of people and 
they’d sit in with our band and jam. So, we were friends for years. But 
he would always tell me, “Man, you're more of a rock guy and I'm a 
blues guy.” On this CD, I really wanted to put together some of the rock 
guys with some of the blues guys and show some of the critics, purists, 
and the fans out there that alot of that labeling shit is not so much done 
by the musicians. We still have respect for each other. We don’t thumb 
our noses at somebody because maybe we don’t think they’re right there 
in our genre. If they’re having a long-lasting career and they’re 
accomplished in their playing and they’re a serious musician - then 
you've got to respect them. No matter what it is they’re playing or what 
genre you think they should be in. That was a conscious effort with this 
CD. I told my record company, “Look, I want to get some of the 
bluesers and some of the rockers, and I want to stick ‘em together, and 
see what the hell we come up with. And, show that lines are very blurry 
between those labels.” Anyway - I hate labels. Duke Ellington hated 
categories and his quote is: “Categories exist to give the work of the 
artistic cripple an attractive gloss.” Now, you’ve gotta think about that. 
There are guys who put on a shark skin suit, get a tweed amp, a 
pompadour, and play Albert King licks all night because that’s all they 
know how to do. Then, they get this attitude like, “Oh, aren't I cool? I’m 
the real deal because this is what I’m playing.” In reality, they’re an 
artistic cripple and that’s all they're able to do. They get the attractive 
gloss by jumping into the sanctuary of the category and | can’t stand that 
shit. So there, you got me going. 

KB: It’s good. I wanted your philosophy on these things. 

WT: Well, there you go. (Laughs.) 

KB: You cut most of the new album live. Do you get off on that type 
of risk? 

WT: Yeah man! Risk is fun. You never get anywhere playing it safe. 














KB: You were very laudatory towards all the other guitarists who _ kind of funky with old carpets, lava lamps, but it was awesome for this 
played on the new album. Do you study other guitarists still, or does session. I couldn’t have found a better place than this studio. The 
it all come from you at this point? engineer, who did an incredible job, he was a huge part of the sound of 
WT: ‘It’s all coming from me, but I’m very influenced by each guy on that CD. He really understood what I was going for 
there. The way I played with Bonamassa, I didn’t not use that approach KB: Are you used to a large measure of creative control at Ruf 
with Guitar Shorty. I tried to listen to these guys and fall into their style, | Records? 
immerse myself into their style, and play complimentary. I'm not out to WT: Pretty much, yeah. 
fight with them, I’m out to converse with them and to groove with them KB: You’re listed as your own producer. But could you work with 
and communicate with them. I played differently on the Jeff Healey cut _an outside producer at this point in your career? 
than I did on the Coco cut. I get really influenced by whom I’m jamming WT: Well yeah. I did six or seven albums with Jim Gaines and I love 
with the guy. I could work with Jim Gaines at any time. A lot has to do with 
KB: Tell us a bit about Jeff Healey. who the producer is. The one thing I didn’t want to do on this record - 
every record that I’ve ever done that’s had a producer, they all say, 
‘Look, we've got to cut this song down. We've got to cut that song 
own. If you want to get any airplay, you can't have a nine-minute 
lues.” On this record, I’m going to be honest, I didn’t give a flying fuck 
bout airplay. I didn’t give a shit about any commercial aspirations. | 
idn’t want to hear, “No, you’re playing a seven chorus solo at the end 
of that Mayall blues. You’ve got to cut it down to three.” No I don’t! 
adio in America is so fucked up. If I cut all my songs down to two 
minutes, I still wouldn’t get airplay. So, I finally realized that I've been 
doing these albums where I’m cutting the songs down - shortening them, 
cutting verses and doing this and doing that and going for airplay - and I 
lon’ get airplay anyway. I do on satellite radio, on college radio, and on 
public radio, But not on commercial radio. They're not going to play 
. They're not going to play anybody like me? 
B: The vast majority of your living is made in Europe, where they 
appreciate true American music more that Americans do. Why do 
you suppose that is? 
WT: Well, I think that here in America, this type of music is taken for 
ranted because it’s everywhere and | think a lot of people in this 
ountry have even turned their back on it. It’s all over the place. It came 
out of this culture and its taken for granted. It’s right there at an I-Hop or 
# Waffle House or a coin Laundromat - it’s just part of everyday life in 
America. In Europe it’s not. They're still kind of in wonder when you 
fcome out and play it with the feel that Americans seem to have. I have 
ome friends in England who are great musicians, they're very 
iccomplished and they work all the time, and they'll do shows with me 
Afterwards they'll come up to me and go, “What is it that you Yanks 
ave? You just have a feel and a way of doing this that we just can’t 
grasp.” I say, “well, you know, we were raised on fuckin’ corn dogs and 
thot fudge sundaes. We weren’t raised on Yorkshire pudding and the 
BBC.” I mean, it’s a different thing, you know, So, that’s the thing with 
Europe I think, and it’s been that way with jazz musicians and blues 
usicians. Also, in this modern age, I don’t think their people are as 
affected by the media and MTV. In America, a lot of people are almost 
like sheep. Anything the media pushes down their throats, the people 
ay, “Oh yeah, there it is.” Then they look no further. In Europe, they'll 
go beyond what they see on TV or hear on the radio, and they will 
clively seek out an emotional experience with their music. The: a lot 
of people over here, especially younger people, who have grown up in 
the MTV generation, and they’re not even aware that music is supposed 
WT: He amazes me and I've known him for years and years. When he __ to be something that tears your guts out. It either rips your heart out of 
did that track, he was sitting in a chair and I was standing right next to _- your chest or makes you feel real good. It’s not just a drum beat with a 
him. I’ve played on stage with him on numerous occasions and stood guy yelling over it that you can jump around to. There’s deeper stuff 
right next to him and he's fuckin’ unbelievable. He's also probably the | going on with art. So, I think Europe has always been more art 






















































nicest, gentlest human being ever in the music business. Him and B.B appreciative. 

King are two of the finest people I know in the music business, just as KB: Are you getting airplay in Europe? 

human beings. WT: I get airplay in Europe constantly. But Europe’s different. It’s not 
KB: Is it extremely difficult to recreate your live sound in the constrained by Clear Channel and Infinity which own one hundred and 
studio? fifty stations and have one guy that tells “em what they can play. So, 


WT: It kinda is. I was really hoping to do that on this CD andI sought _ with this CD, I did produce it in a way that...for instance. | can tell you 
out a studio where I thought we could do that - where we could set up in What a producer would've said about the Guitar Shorty song. “That intro 
a semi-circle, look at each other and play at the same time. I also wanted you played ‘bomp-bomp-babomp-bomp. Cut two of those out, Then you 
it to be relaxed. Some of the studios that have a big room, which is the have Shorty coming in the beginning and doing a whole chorus on the 
first thing you need, but they’re pristine and sterile and you’re scared if | guitar before you even sing. You gotta shorten that.” They would 
you spill your Coca-Cola on the floor. The place I found was like shorten it and make it more concise and on ths one, I didn’t give a shit 
playing in somebody's living room and having a jam session. It was __ It was like, “Hey man, I’m going to play this intro for a while. When 


82 








you feel like coming in and playing, you come in and play, and then 
we'll take it around one time, then we'll sing something.” I didn’t givea 
shit if the songs were twenty minutes long as long as they had the 
feeling to them. 

KB: Is Ruf Records firmly behind you on this stuff? . 
WT: Ruf Records is awesome to me. I have to say, at this point in my 
career, that | have been wooed and approached by other labels in the 
world and other labels in America. One or two of whom approached me 
quite heavily and still send e-mails, they come to my shows, and are 
doing everything but putting on kneepads and falling on their knees in 
front of me to get me to sign. I haven’t signed with them. With Ruf 
Records, he says, “OK. You make a record, I'll sell it.” He has never 
once said anything about material. He has never once said anything but, 
“I believe in what you do. Here's a budget. It might not be a lot, but 
here’s what I have. You make it work. You go make me a record. You 
do your job and I'll do mine.” On some labels that my friends are on, 
they have to OK every song. I get none of that from Ruf. 

KB: Do most of your songs come out of jam situations or do you 
work with a pad, pencil and guitar all the time? 

WT: I’m writing in the van, in the back, and I have headphones on. 
When I want to get in the zone, I put on a song that gets me into a really 
emotional, fragile condition. Then, I have a pen and paper in my hand, 
and I have stacks of lyrics and poetry. Then, when it’s time to come up 
with a CD, I read through it until something grabs me, and then I put it 
to music. 

KB: Do any songs come out of jam situations? 

WT: Oh, tons of them. We do that all the time. We do it on stage quite a 
bit, actually. I get tired of always playing the same songs and a lot of 
times I'll do what John Mayall taught me to do: Key of C, count to four, 
here we go! Then you start singing about whatever is on your mind. If 
I’m in Europe and I'm in the Czech Republic where nobody speaks 
English, I can sing all sort of weird shit - but I don’t do that over here. 
KB: I think naming your previous album “Deep Trout” was pretty 
funny. 

WT: You want to know something? My wife came up with that title and 
she goes, “We're going to do a compilation because we're going back 
through the years. We're even going to put your New Jersey band on 
there. So, since it's deep into your past, we'll call it Deep Trout.” | said, 
“I've got an idea!” My wife is young, right? “Let's take the poster from 
Deep Throat, change it to Trout, and we'll get Linda Lovelace off the X 
and put me on there - but not doing what Linda Lovelace was doing - 
and there's our cover!” It came together real quick . (Laughs.) 

KB: You’re a very funny person. 

WT: I like to laugh. I think you can’t take this shit too seriously. I do 
take it seriously and it's my life. I’ve devoted my life to it and given up 
everything else in search of trying to create something of beauty. That's 
all I want to do is to create something of beauty. But I also don’t take it 
serious to the point where I’m going to take it all too seriously. You've 
got to keep a sense of humor about all this. My best friend Jimmy Trapp 
passed away. When | introduce Rick, the new bass player, to people | 
say, “This is Rick. He replaced the dead guy.” They look at me like I 
have no heart, but I have to put it that way or else I'll start crying. I’ve 
gotta make it a joke and Jimmy would have been the first guy to laugh. 
KB: When were you married to Marie? She’s also your manager 
and co-writer. 

WT: We got married on September 28, 1991. She does an awesome job 
as my manager. She pays attention to a lot of the little details that none 
of my other management people would do. That’s because I’m her only 
client. | was with other managers who had five or six bands and they 
could only devote so much time to my band. | also got ripped off by two 
different managers for all my money and had to start over again. So, 
now we keep it in the family. 

KB: Some performers have told me that their hearts were broken 
when their managers ripped them off. How did you survive 
something like that? 

WT: My heart was broken too. Because both of those managers who 
stole all my money were very good friends of mine before they were my 


83 


managers. One of them I had worked with in another band. But it makes 
me more determined to keep going. One of the things I’ve learned from 
John Mayall, he told me, “If you want to do this, if you want to have a 
long career, you let nothing deter you. All sorts of shit is going to 
happen. You don’t get deterred, you get stronger. You get pissed off and 
you say, “OK - fuck you. I’m in your face and I’m here to stay.” That's 
what “Go the Distance” was written for. To be perfectly honest, 1 wrote 
it about the music business and the critics and the managers who ripped 
me off. That’s what I wrote that song about. It’s: “You’re not going to 
get rid of me. I’m going to be here in your face whether you like it or 
not.” I'll go as far with it as I can. I may go far with it, I may not. But 
I’m not quitting this and this is my life’s work. 

KB: Do you have any children? 

WT: Yes I do. I have three sons. Jonathan 13, Michael, 10, and Dylan 4. 
They have their own band and on many of the shows out here, they open 
up for me. They actually came to Europe last year and opened ten shows 
for me in big theaters. | have them booked at a lot of festivals this 
summer. They're one of the featured acts at the Mount Baker Blues 
Festival in Washington. They do some original tunes that my 13 year- 
old has written - political songs about the administration, homeless 
people, and his frustration with our government. Then they do songs like 
“Smoke on the Water” and “Highway to Hell.” They rock! They're 
awesome. My road manager plays bass with them and my keyboard 
player plays B-3 with them. They’re something else, man. 

KB: Tell me about co-writing with you wife. Is that an easy 
process? 

WT: That's real easy. We both think a lot a like. For instance, “Who's 
Listening In,” I came up with the idea, and then she and I sat down and 
it took us about ten minutes of running little lines back and forth. She 
writes really good and a lot of that song is her. And a lot of the other 
song - there’s one called “Fast Movin’ Traffic” off Deep Trout - that’s 
almost all her, lyrically. It’s a song about addiction. 

KB: It’s interesting that you would mention that. I saw an interview 
from quite a while ago where you said that you once drank quite a 
bit. 

WT: I drank to escape the pain of my youth and the pain | was feeling. I 
was running from a lot of my past. Then when I quit, I realized that 
instead of running from it, you utilize it and put it into your music. | 
want to move somebody. When I’m on my deathbed, I want to feel that 
what I devoted my life to - to the exclusion of everything else - that it 
mattered just a little bit. 

KB: You have the final word. What would you like to say about 
your album Full Circle? 

WT: I’m excited by it and I’m excited about it because there’s a lot of 
love in there and a lot of respect between the players and on every cut, 
we're having a ball. We're really not worrying about any kind of 
commercial thoughts. We just went in there and had fun. We're just 
jammin’ man. It’s all spontaneous. Most of it is recorded without even 
rehearsing. The songs are discussed - we sit down and discuss what 
we're going to do and you're hearing us play those songs for the first 
and last time as a unit. So, | think it has an incredible amount of 
spontaneity and feel. We had to listen to each other and we had to tune 
into what each other was doing in order to make it work. I’m really 
excited and I’m proud of it. If it sells a lot, I'll be happy. If it sells two 
copies, I’m still proud of it. I’m thankful to God that I’m still here and 
still alive. 


Our thanks to Nancy at Ruf Records for setting up the 
interview and providing pictures. 


You can check out more of this guitar-slinger’s story at 
www. WalterTrout.com. 


The Blue Moon Boys - The Story of Elvis Presley’s Band 
by Ken Burke and Dan Griffin is currently in stores. 








EVERYONE GETS OFF THE 
BUS BEFORE I DO: 


MECCA NORMAL 


meets ROBERT DAYTON 





Interview conducted in the Spring of 2006 at Jean Smith’s comfortable 
abode over tea and much laughter (just intersperse the asides of laughter 
yourself) shortly after the tour and release of their latest album “The 
Observer” on Kill Rock Stars. This is album number twelve in the over 
twenty year long career of this duo that consists of Jean Smith (vocals) 
and David Lester (guitar). Much of the subject matter of this new album 
deals with Jean’s experiences online dating. 

How was tour? 

Jean Smith: It was brutal but it was great. The last half was with 
Shoplifting, we were opening for them, they’re on Kill Rock Stars. 

I've heard the name. 

Jean: They’re fantastic, a singing female drummer who does duets with 
the lead singer, excellent guitar player. They were great to hang out with 
night after night. 

That makes it easier- 

Jean: -for them. They've got the van and two drivers. In our band we've 
got me as the driver. 

(to David) You don’t drive? 

David Lester: Mm mm. 

Do you have a driver’s license? 

David: Yes, I do. 

But you don’t drive. You’re like me! 

David: You wouldn’t want to be riding with me. I’d kill you. 

Jean: I like to drive. I’m good at it. Dave has other skills. That’s the 
great thing about Mecca Normal, it’s not like we’re really similar 








people, we have different skills and that’s why it works. We did twelve 
shows in ten days in different cities. 

David: We did an evening in Providence after sleeping in a weird 
flophouse 

Jean: Weird? It was filthy. Someone's showing you through the room 
with the guys with the huge bottle of Jim Beam, you’re walking over 
broken furniture and past spilled glasses of ancient soda pop and into 
these rooms where you're supposed to each choose which room hoping 
they get better as you go up through this house, right? “Okay, do you 
want this room here with the bedding that has guitar cables mixed into 
the sheets.” You all get these rooms. Somebody's got to get the alarm 
clock because you have to get up at 6:30 or seven to get to this radio 
show, it’s already like 3:30 in the moming 

At least you’re a duo. Traveling as a duo would be relatively easy. 
Did you ever book hotel rooms? 

Jean: You do need to have a bit of a break. We only took- 

David: -three motels in the Whole three and a half weeks. The rest of the 
time we lived on the good will of the people taking us home with them. 
Jean: There was one show in Portland, it was a big show opening for 
Mates Of State, you know those kinds of shows where people don’t 
know who the Hell you are, a few people do, they’re just absorbing this, 
it’s not your thing, right, you’re on the bill for some reason. Do you 
know The Mates Of State? They were very nice. They’re quite happy 
and poppy and they’re a couple who like each other and they reveal this 
to the audience. The woman came bopping across the parking lot to me 
and said, “You did that Michael Jackson cover back in the 90s, didn’t 
you? I saw you in Lawrence, Kansas.” I’m thinking, “Oh my God, we’re 
on this bill for some reason. No, we never did a Michael Jackson cover 
and we weren't in Lawrence, Kansas in the 90s. How did we even get on 
this bill?” I didn’t say any of that to her, of course. I had to ask from the 
stage if somebody would come up to us and give us a place to stay. We 
simply had nowhere to stay. At the end of the night we sort of got this 
message and directions but we didn’t know. where the Hell we were 
being directed to but it turned out to be great. She had pitchers of the 
water on the nightstand and little candles going and beds and everything 
was wonderful 

David: She was incredible and she had all of our CDs. It wasn't like she 
was just being nice and taking pity. She was actually a fan. But that’s 
contrasted with Baltimore where we slept at the venue which was an old, 
kind of abandoned warehouse that artists we’re living in. Jean lent me 
her guitar case, | was going to go sleep in that or on the floor amidst 
cigarette buts and dirt. 

Jean: The party raged on another hour and a half after the last band 
played and you're just dying to get some sleep. 

David: We had one day where Jean drove in five States. What a day 

Jean: And that was the day...sometimes we involve other people in our 
dynamic, in this case we involved an avant-garde composer who | was 
going to work with and we created this band on the road so we were 
going to meet him, get him in the car and go and do a show that he and | 
would play and for the next four shows together with this person that we 
had never met and didn’t know what the Hell was going to happen. It 
was very exciting and it turned out to be very great. We do have a 
history of disrupting this entity by involving other, either duos or poets 
or minimalist musicians. 

It keeps it fresh. 

Jean: It livens things up if it works okay, it can be energy draining if it 
doesn’t 

More times than not it works, right? 

Jean: You become a team in a really interesting way. Everybody has to 
not let their end down. It’s a real little community. Musicians are an 
example of what is hopeful about society in that we all have to want to 
play with other people so you have to socially interact in a pleasant 
manner. Otherwise you're not going to have anybody to play with. 

David: Unlike writers or painters where it’s a solitary function 

Jean: They can afford to be more prickish 

David: Bitter, angry. 

Besides musical practice you both do the solitary artistic practice. 
Jean: They overlap. We put out our art show and we do a Mecca Normal 
performance at the exhibit and we do a workshop or a lecture, depending 














on the environment, called “How Art & Music Can Change the World.” 
We also get up and talk about our art to people. We don’t just put it up, 
have the opening, act weird at the opening, and run home again. 

And be prickish. 

Jean: Be prickish about it all. And we do it for maybe other reasons than 
just pure self expression. It is based in social values of expressing 
political concerns directly as Dave’s series of posters, “Inspired 
Agitators”, does. He’s selected a group of activists and cultural 
luminaries from throughout history and does these great posters that 
give an idea of what these people set out to accomplish and something 
about their lives. 

Aren’t these posters meant to be viewed as part of a play? 

David: We did put them as part of a play that involved both our works, 
my politicized word based work and Jean’s non-verbal based art. 

Jean: We realized that once we had all of this art accumulated we had 
switched roles, Dave is the musical non-verbal part of Mecca Normal 
and I’m the very verbal singer. My paintings are not really language 
based or even strongly concept based. We created this art show in a few 
different environments where we just dealt with the space and created a 
linear sense of what it would be like if it was a play. You’re walking 
through it and there’s these different components, you see the 
playwright and the playbill, paintings of what the set looked like, you 
see political art and non-political art. The basis of the play and the art 
exhibit was, “Do people like political art because they agree with it? 
And what is the value of art in society and does it have to have a 
message and that kind of push and pull within?” We were exploring 
those ideas as well because I felt some responsibility when I realised my 
art wasn’t really saying something. | thought, “That ain’t right for a 
politico in Mecca Normal to just create images that were based on things 
that were quite likeable. You know, colour and light and composition.” 
That’s my inclination with painting to a large extent. And it was also 
about teamwork. It was called “Inspired Agitators And the Pantomime 
Horse.” So who was going to be the front of the horse & who was going 
to be the back end of the horse in the duo? The arguing, we created a 
costume, it was a neat exercise. We did that and created the lecture 
around that and then did the songs, we created this spectacle on many 
levels. Another component was my self-portraits which I started at age 
13 and continued up through the years in between of my life. I talk about 
how I was as a teenager and why I was doing these & to encourage 
young people to start something and you never know where it’s going to 
g0, to keep doing something, to not just think it’s all hopeless. 

With regards to the show’s mandate, are you asking, “Are we 
preaching to the converted?” 

Jean: Welll, in a way, I didn’t ever think of it in that way specifically but 
more the essence of the question, “If you see a painting that says ‘war is 
wrong’ are you liking the painting because of that message? Is that what 
is valuable to you about that piece of art and therefore should art be 
giving us direct messages or is there something about it that is 
intrinsically valuable because of how we interpret it on a’ intellectual 
level or another less literal level?” That we get different thr’ ,s from it is 
a neat thing. 

David: Combining our art works where mine’s more explicitly political 
than Jean’s, I think there’s room for both ways of looking at it. | don’t 
think you can exclude things because they are colourful or beautiful or 
they speak to you in a different way. Maybe that’s political, maybe 
they’re out to have a positive resonance to you in your life and that’s as 
political as saying “War is bad” or whatever. I think that combining our 
artwork is a challenge to the audience, | think juxtaposing them together 
is part of what we’re doing with this show. 

Jean: Actually that’s an interesting thing about the guy I’m working with 
in this band that’s going to continue on called Book Of Common 
Gestures. David First is a composer and he’s done quite a bit of work 
with microtonal drones that he’s established make people feel good. He 
creates these pieces that he has technically figured out which waves 
make you feel a hell of a lot better. They’re not telling you to feel better 
or creating pop structures that dance around that do another kind of 
feeling better. He’s finding scientific, biologically physiological 
evidence as to which sounds. To me, that’s political, that you want 
people to feel good, you want them to feel better. And I think Mecca 


85 


Normal has gone more in that direction where after all these years we 
don’t feel we have to tell people how to be, how to think. We’re willing 
to present new songs that are more vulnerable just through the 
confidence of what we've already created together, there’s a lot of 
different levels to offer from. 

I've definitely noticed the new album that is less jagged and jarring. 
Jean: I think that I’ve got the long narrative form down pretty good for 
some of the songs. I guess it started on the last album, “The Family 
Swan”, there was a few long narrative pieces. For this one, the one song 
“Attraction Is Ephemeral”, it’s the last song that we did, I just had this 
story that I worked along time on, we just sang it once and taped it, it 
was done, now we just had to do it the same way in the studio, that was 
the second time we did it, 

Mecca Normal has been together for twenty years. Was this a 
conscious change to move in this direction? 

Jean: There was no master plan. 

David: Just the idea that Jean was moving in the direction of longer 
narratives, songs that were eight or nine minutes long, that in the course 
of that I thought that we should have some variation, it’s hard to play the 
guitar for that length of time. 

Jean: Hard in what way? 

David: As a listener I’d rather hear other things happening within that. 
For repeated listenings I just thought that we could expand and have a 
bit more fun in the studio to accommodate the longer pieces. 

This was recorded at The Hive. Have you recorded there before? 
Jean: This is a new thing. We discovered The Hive when we were doing 
a project on our own label a few years back. We went in there & worked 
with Jordan Koop and he really got the sound right away that we liked, 
When it came to do this album he made us feel creative because he got 
the sound that we wanted really quickly. We get there and I’m thinking, 
“If this guy becomes bizarre over the content of these songs...” It is 
revealing stuff but actually I’m a fairly modest person and | don’t really 
have an urge to expose myself or anybody else. This was just stuff that 
was going on with the online dating. People have asked me, “Oh! Great 
idea! So then you went and researched it?” No, I was trying to get a 
date, you idiot! But Jordan made the environment so creative. He wasn’t 
judgmental at all. We just behaved as ourselves and he didn’t disrupt 
that dynamic which I think is a real skill. He was just so great. 

Tell me more about the recording process. 

Jean: We had these meetings and we decided to add these elements 
which were predominantly things that I was going to do: play some 
acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sax, piano, percussion of some sort- that 
was pretty much a failure with my efforts of playing the drums, it 
sounded really good when I was doing it, it sounded pretty bad when I 
played it back but everything else worked. Even though doing it would 
play the sax over the whole song and I think Dave’s going, “Oh my 
God, what is she thinking?” But the idea was that somewhere in there, 
there would be some notes that worked and everything else went out. 
David: We thought it was going to be all the way through. We weren’t 
privy to that information. 

Jean: With the piano, I thought the same thing is going to happen here. I 
think we used almost all of the piano, it was one of those days where it 
sounded good. I used synth and a Casio for drones and stuff. I felt happy 
and proud that I’d accomplished this mission to- not to subvert the 
composition nor detract from Dave’s guitar or my vocals- but to create 
some kind of tension. We were calling them tasty bits. These things 
would appear to give the listener more freedom. It was making music 
was what it was. That’s what we did. Yeah! That’s what we did! 

Which you’ve been doing since 1985, Am I correct? 

Jean: Maybe 1984. 

Have had any idea that you’d be together this long back then? 

Jean:I didn’t know it was possible to live to this age let alone be a band. 
Did it just seem natural to keep going? 

Jean: It’s never really come up, We've also allowed other things to 
happen in life. It’s always been a great way to reconnect and develop 
further. It’s like my self-portrait series where you get to now see your 
whole life in this limited vantage point of the same thing. It’s like 
having a great photo album of your thinking and your expression. 
There’s a great deal to be said in favour of continuing artistic projects 











and to maintain partnerships in that way. I think Dave and I have found 
ways to create enough variation by including visual art. With the writing 
Dave does a lot of my editing and some publishing of my work. We’ve 
developed all of these additional yet inclusive kind of functions. 

They are all extensions of your practice. 

Jean: I probably shouldn’t say this but on one of my tax returns I wrote 
off one hundred percent of my place and one hundred percent of my 
time. If they were going to ever ask me about it | would just say that | 
write about my dreams so the bedroom’s included and while I’m asleep 
it’s included. They went for it. 

With Mecca Normal you have kept the same basic dynamic since the 
beginning: vocals and guitar. | would be correct in assuming that. 
This is substantiated fact. 

Jean: There’s evidence! Lots of evidence! 

Have you been able to look back on the work and notice how it has 
changed along that continuum? 

Jean: Because I live inside my own mind and all that that entails I notice 
more my attitude and how it’s changed in a psychological evolution. 
There’s nothing that we've done that we cringe at. 

Really? I go back even five years ago and find stuff that I have done 
that I cringe at. Really? 

Jean: No. I like listening to what we do. I wouldn’t recommend that 
anyone should listen to it as much as I do. We’re meant to be an 
additional complementary entity to what else is out there, we're 
commentary in a way on what else is happening, we’re a response. 
People will say to me about this new album for instance, “Whoah. 
You're just willing to expose anything.” I’m thinking, “I don’t really 
expose much of anything” but I’m getting the impression that something 
is being interpreted by the listener's own doing that it’s bringing up 
something about their circumstance or experiences in that way. There’s 
nowhere really on the album that it is mentioned that this is online 
dating. These are just romantic encounters. In fact there is one song that 
has simply nothing to do with online dating but 1 would challenge 
anyone to determine which one that is. We’ve had a couple of reviews 
that sort of say, “Ew, creepy” which is kind of neat, I like that reaction 
in a way because I wanted to bring up the controversy of being 46 and 
feeling attractive and good in life, that I've worked some things out and 
am probably better now than other times in life. At this age you're not 
viewed as desirable or attractive within the demographic that society 
puts forth as what women are, what sexy is, sexy ends at a certain age. | 
wanted to bring that up. The photo on the album cover is not specifically 
meant to be glamorous. It is supposed to be more vulnerable and that 
there is something else to what is going on than just the dynamic of 
putting out something as sexy as possible visually. 

There is a certain amount of ageism in our society. 

Jean: And rock music is about- 

The young and- 

Jean: Yeah. If a reviewer is going to say “This is creepy”- also because 
I'm known as a cultural activist or a feminist it seems like that’s been 
such a limitation to how I’ve ever been described in the media or how 
people see a woman onstage, “Oh, she’s pretty heavy and tough,” that 
you couldn't be also hilarious and totally attractive or sexy or whatever. 
You're allowed one sort of dimension. If you're a feminist or you're 
political that tends to exclude a lot of other complexities that all people 
are made up of. I wanted to bring those things up. It’s been really neat 
doing these songs live because it almost seemed that people are really 
laughing a lot at these songs. 

Well, they’re very funny. 

Jean: I’m typically very funny. | was more funny when I was drinking 
which all ended about seven years ago. There’s that transition to being 
totally sober onstage and a little bit awkward. To have people really 
laugh at particular lines within a song, first of all they’re really listening, 
they're following the narrative and then they look around like, “Oops! 
Am I supposed to be laughing? This is serious stuff, this is a known 
feminist.” By the end of the tour that’s how I became more the way I 
sang it, not as stand up comedy, I knew where people were going to 
laugh so I allowed for more room to savor the laughter. 

Because it is so confessional it is at times very wry and flippant. It’s 
two different kinds of putting yourself out there entwined: putting 


86 


yourself out there with the album and putting yourself out there 
with having a LavaLife profile. 

Jean: What happened specifically was even when these dates didn’t 
work out I felt at least that I could write about it, that there’s some 
inspiration as an extension of trying to understand not as sort of like 
“Man, that guy was a stupid asshole, I’m too good for him anyway.” I 
really steered clear of propping myself up in ego based taking things 
personally as far as why it didn’t work. I wanted to understand more 
about what was happening. Writing for me is always an extension or a 
different way to think then you have a document of that, you can watch 
yourself being accountable to what really happened. | felt that was a 
valuable part of the experience. Also because you’re learning about the 
person originally before you meet in the written word which I think is a 
valid way, especially for me as communication is an important part of 
the type of person that I would be looking for. Can they communicate? 
How do they communicate in the written language? Some of the things 
that happened on these dates, or the little romances if they extended 
beyond dates, I just found that I learned so much. I just found 
opportunities to deal with other issues in my past that | maybe hadn’t 
known how to really process and define. Things like if a person was 
being disrespectful to me I think in the past I would try to prove myself 
or that it’s a challenge or that there’s some sort of attraction that is 
unhealthy or not particularly positive to different types of personalities. 
It felt like 1 was finding people to see that really clearly or quickly 
because I’d done this sort of work when | quit working...this is getting 
all heavy! David’s starting to fall asleep, he’s heard this so many times! 
We'll get to you in a minute, David. 

David: She’s on a roll. 

Jean; Okay so I quit drinking but I wanted to figure out why I drank in 
the first place, why I started drinking at age 13 and went through life 
using that as a way to avoid feeling pain so | examined a bunch of stuff 
and figured out some stuff and put it into use. It felt like the universe 
was giving me the opportunity to deal with these things really quickly 
and I had this clarity of, “Oh! This guy actually is being disrespectful to 
me!” and to not take that personally, that’s what he’s doing, that’s all to 
do with something in his life that he does that to people for things that 
he hasn’t figured out about himself. It doesn’t mean that I should stay 
there and make excuses, What I need to do is say, “You're disrespectful 
to me. I cannot see you again.” Setting boundaries, right? 1 won't allow 
myself to be in that situation. And then the guy of course goes, “You're 
a mental patient!” Well, that’s obvious because you’re disrespectful to 
me, so one last time on the billboard with the flashing lights I go “So 
I'm right” and then you don’t see that person again. 

With these healthier trains of thought do you think it is easier to not 
dwell on things because it has been arranged through a computer? 
Jean: I don’t know really because a couple of these people I did continue 
to interact with because they were more around my age and they were 
trying to figure things out yet they were still doing these behaviours that 
struck me as not good for me so I did continue to communicate with 
them online to try and continue some of the dynamic which is also 
interesting, where you might not want to get together over coffee but it 
did seem like there was potential to write more, There’s a potential for 
intellectual connection where the body is not there, you’re connected to 
the mind and a lot of social filters are different, the ones that are 
physically involved with talking are gone and new ones arrive. It seems 
like with some of those connections you actually give people quite a bit 
of credit, you want to believe they’re really special and great because 
you are involved with this discourse without those other filters. And 
then it bums people out they meet the actual person and they see they’re 
a mere mortal and they have spinach between their teeth or whatever. It 
seems like there hasn’t been enough research done on that. 

I think you’re right, I have noticed that. But on the other hand one 
might be quicker to dismiss or deglamourize the person if they do 
something disrespectful out of the blue. 

Jean: What kind of things do you mean? 

I haven’t encountered anyone doing that myself but I have heard 
about people going over certain boundaries. Now with people saying 
that your new album’s creepy, I do know that I once put up a dating 
profile up and I was wary of it and found it a little wary, that there 





was a taboo. But I don’t see it so much with younger people as 
computers become much more a part of life. 

Jean: And this taboo will dissipate the longer this phenomenon is around 
and I don’t see it going anywhere. It’s here to stay. In fact, somebody | 
went on a date with had been doing it for quite a while. In the beginning 
the pioneers of this phenomenon were more interesting to select from, to 
get together with, but now there are a lot of followers. 

Because the pioneers set the template? 

Jean: Yeah, That era is now gone. Trying to learn about somebody is 
part of this thing, too. It’s interesting. I like it. 1 don’t find online dating 
that bizarre in any way at all. It’s actually quite convenient. I wouldn't 
say | recommend it. I’m not doing it right now and I don’t know if I'll 
do it anymore. It’s a bit of hunting and gathering like going into a thrift 
store. Like, “Who would buy that? Look at this thing.” Some of the 
things people will write is fascinating on their profile with what they 
think is going to draw somebody in. That they’re obviously bitter or 
they’re tentative or they want to talk but they really don’t know what to 
say or you can start to read the deceptive nature of it. This is another 
taboo: I have different profiles for different purposes so I’m like a total 
rebel on these. 

What were the different purposes? 

Jean: One I was just putting erotic writing up without my photo and 
getting a response from people. And people would write erotic sections, 
and you can see them trying to create an emotional thing called lust with 
this writing and that takes some doing trying to make another human 
feel lust through your construction of cerebral quality.(to David) And 
it’s not to be smocked, Mr. I’ve Had A Girlfriend for how many years? 
David: Eight years. 

How did Jean approach you with these new songs and how did you 
respond to it? 

David: I guess I’d been hearing about Jean’s involvement on LavaLife 
and I know she’d been writing about it. She often turns her prose writing 
into songs so it seems like it was obvious the direction that it would go 
so that wasn’t weird at all. The subject matter is about human relations if 
you really want to get down to it whether it’s on the internet or however 
people meet each other, that’s still fundamentally what it’s about and 
that’s what people write songs about. I think she writes in a very 
cinematic and receptive way and she has a great usage of language. 
She’s not restricted by the barriers of how song structures should 
normally be with choruses and verses and stuff. They have some of 
those that work in but they work in organically where Jean finds a line 
that she wants to repeat. She works with that and that’s her decision to 
come up with it or not but to me they don’t really need it, it still works, 
it’s catchy still. 

You have to come up with structures to go with that. 

David: I try to create something that she can work with that has a flow to 
it that she can feel a bit of freedom. 

These songs are about relations but are most definitely not clichéd 
“TI love you, you love me.” 

David: That’s what’s great about it is to take subject matter between 
men and women that has been done to death to a degree, I think that she 
does it with an incredibly fresh approach because of the quality of her 
writing. When I came up with the music to “Attraction Is Ephemeral” it 
was the exact thing that I love most, it’s just very simple chords with a 
few little tricks to it and it has a fluidity to it. | thought that as soon as | 
came up with it that Jean could put a story to it, to do a longer narrative, 
and it wouldn’t be boring in terms of the music being simple, it would 
propel itself along, you get certain chord structures and they build upon 
themselves without seeming to be repetitive and yet they are. 

Jean: Thank you for all those compliments, by the way, pal. That’s why 
you did that so masterfully because when I picked up the piece of paper 
and just started it was just the perfect version and luckily we recorded it 
and we learned it from that. When we recorded it in the studio then we 
learned how to do it live from that. I still can’t really find the beginning 
or end, it just rolls along, that you can’t really see the seams. That we've 
worked together so long- actually even on the first album I think five out 
of the twelve songs we're the first time that we ever did them in that 
same way. Turned on the tape, Dave played something that I'd never 
heard before and I sang stuff and that went on the album. 87 


David: To me this is the great thing about working with Jean for twenty 
years is that she has the ability to do that. You can just start playing and 
she’ll start singing and it’ll gel. It doesn’t happen every time but it can 
work. Many people could never do that, they would never have the 
bravery to just start singing to something, they would want it all worked 
out in advance. 

The ability to improvise. 

David: Yes, ability to improvise and to be confident doing that and to 
produce good work that way, Now not every song is like that, we do 
have other songs with very set structures and changes where we put a 
great deal of work into it, it’s just a different kind of song, it isn’t better 
than the one that comes instantly, Jean can do it either way. Again, that 
makes it exciting. 

You both have and have had other musical projects. Do you 
approach them differently? 

David: In a nutshell, when I’m working I specifically come up with 
guitar for when I’m thinking about Jean in our project. I’ve worked with 
a Downtown East Side poet Bud Osborn that I would think about 
differently because he does stuff differently. And working with my 
girlfriend Wendy Atkinson who's a bass player, we do a lot of 
improvising together. 

Can you put your finger on it more? 

David: It’s to do with how Jean sings. It’s not that you’re limited by 
what you do, you keep expanding your own ideas within the context of 
that. Her artistry affects mine. 

And Jean? 

Jean; In my other projects I tend to play guitar. Depending on the 
personalities I’ve worked with it tends to inform how the lyrics are dealt 
with and because I play guitar in these other projects | maybe truncate 
the lyrics into something to fit that. 

What about lyrical subject matter? 

Jean: I think I’m more comfortable with ambiguity in the other bands, to 
explore things that aren’t conclusive. With Mecca Normal | tend to take 
our mandate from the very beginning into consideration at the very least. 
And that mandate is? 

Jean: That I’ve learned things that I want to put across to people to make 
the world a better place. Ideas about oppression, social issues, poverty, 
housing, male-female dynamics. Over that time I’ve found other ways 
than being totally literal that are as valuable and valid, such as 
respecting the audience and their ability to interpret subtleties and 
metaphors. And to even interpret it completely other than how I mean it, 
that because I’m generating something that they will get something and 
whatever they get is okay with me as a respectful collaboration with the 
audience. That’s an extension of the mandate and how it’s evolved. With 
the other projects I feel I’d rather almost not have substantially 
important lyrics so they maybe get less attention. When you think of 
(other project) 2 Foot Flame the songs.are fairly poetic, the voice is used 
more as an instrument because there are other instruments, how to fit 
into a soundscape, maybe vocal drones. 

Yet with the new Mecca Normal album a lot of the subject matter 
doesn’t seem to be conclusive. 

Jean: I like that about it. I’m not trying to make a case. The song that 
starts the album, “I’ll Call You,” I did write that as a profile. I was pretty 
mad at this guy, I thought it was going somewhere but then | saw him 
online again after we’d been together a couple times which is why I 
wrote the second song about him as well, he’s not just checking his mail, 
he’s there for five hours, I don’t get it so I just had to say to him, “I’m 
Not Into Being The Woman You’re With While You’re Looking For 
The Woman You Want.” | just had to write that after racking my brain 
because I didn’t like that feeling. What am I chopped liver? Plus there’s 
a whole dynamic of LavaLife where they have these three sections, 
where they have dating, whatever the Hell that is I really don’t know. 
What the Hell is that? And then you never see them again. The middle 
one is Relationship where I clearly felt like that was not the structure 
that I...1 made a profile for that, I had a profile on Dating and | 
progressively worked my way on to Intimate Encounters which | found 
really sort of spooky and slimy when I- 

-even the name. It’s like Alien Encounters. 


ee Ciéeé.egeéeeo.dwdwwwllaaa————————————————— eee 


Jean: | went in without a photo and wrote stuff and got reactions then I 
put up a photo and monitored how that went. And then you start being 
judged as, “Well, you are obviously just having sex with anybody at all 
if you’re in this section” is the stereotype of it. 

No, it’s intimate! 

Jean: People would assume that because you're there that it’s just one 
thing about a person and they. weren’t even reading the profiles per se. I 
had one profile where I said if you’re going to contact me use the word 
‘canoe’ so that I know you've read my profile. And so many people did 
not. The guy who I wrote “I’m Not Into being the Woman You're 
With...”, I got the impression that because he met me in Intimate 
Encounters that he pretty well come out and said that who he was going 
to eventually get together with was someone from Relationship. It’s like 
I'm the slut from the other side of the tracks or whatever metaphor, 
y'know, I’m Mrs. Goodtimes. It was really odd. 

So it is set up with these three categories with a certain set of 
perimeters that LavaLife does not define themselves? 

Jean: No, but you do get people talking about them and most people are 
in all three at this point and challenges the whole thing. The other part of 
was that I didn’t want the structured Relationship that you get together, 
know everything, and do everything and have to go and meet 
everybody’s friends and everything is going in this trajectory of 
consuming items together and going on vacations, all the kind of 
traditional things that Relationship denotes. I was really thinking of 
having something more like a lover, a monogamous situation where it’s 
based on sex and laughs, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to be 
emotionally involved or even in love or whatever. I like my life, 1 do 
things with other people, I go on tour with Dave, I write novels, I get up 
at three in the morning to write. I don’t want to be making meals really 
and having a whole social life that is based on somebody else’s 
concerns. It’s not meant to sound horrible and cold and weird but that’s 
the impression that I got back from men that “You won't find that”, that 
it’s beyond the realm of decency. I thought that’s what guys were after 
themselves: no problems, no drama, you just get together for sex and 
then just leave everything until the next time. There doesn’t have to be 
the clingy knowing what the person is doing, if you trust them, if there’s 
communication, that to me seems highly civilized and progressive. 

I’m in a long term relationship where things aren’t clearly defined 
and people’s response is “ Oh, that’s too bad.” But it’s fine, we care 
about each other, it’s never been a problem. 

Jean: But for many people out of the general public would feel that you 
gotta solidify that or drop it and get a solid thing. 

Have kids? Want kids? Canada is terribly unmoral so we need more 
children. 

Jean: When single people are out there trying to grapple with all that 
they set these things up with what they want and how they see it and 
they don’t build on extensions on the theme too easily. Especially when 
all this criteria is listed and boxes are ticked it tends to get the mind 
going into a more confined overview. 

Also when one envisions a dream guy or girl, it’s a terribly 
unhealthy notion that’s wise to reject. 

Jean: A lot of people are on that as the thing that they’re doing, they 
have the person in their imagination that they’re trying to match up with. 
Have any of these guys that you’ve written about heard these songs? 
Jean: I don’t know. 

What would you do if they wrote songs about experiences with you? 
Jean: I probably wouldn’t hear them either. 

On the album there is a lot of frustration, I ask with much 
pigeonholing was online dating worth it? 

Jean: Worth it? Is that from a Capitalist point of view? Did it have 
value? Did 1 get my money’s worth? It was exciting, you meet 
somebody, you build some kind of rapport with them, you try to use 
your senses of research and intellect and wariness and common sense, 
and you get ready and you go out the door and you feel great and you're 
going to meet some other human who is waiting for you and has 
preconceptions about you and then you're going to tell your life story 
and drink a cup of coffee and see how it goes, 

I met people in bars when I was drinking, when you’re younger you're 
not as discerning as when you get older, I think or I hope or maybe 


88 


that’s just me. I would like to get something that didn’t cause problems. 
Now that I don’t have alcohol to solve the pain problem I’m much less 
inclined to get myself in a position where there will be pain. I’m not 
crying now, I’m just rubbing my eye. I know what things are not good, I 
don’t want to do them. That’s the other thing I’ve had fantastic 
relationships with guys for years at a time and lived different places and 
lived together and made music. It just seemed, yeah, get another one of 
them things happening. There would be more alcohol fuelled situations, 
there were issues of people living in different countries, and poverty and 
various things that I would like to avoid. Maybe online dating gives you 
a way to assess some of that before you completely get involved in the 
here and now. That’s what I was looking for: somebody from here who 
was a non-drinker because you see, “Are you a social drinker or a non- 
drinker?” so I would do a search for non-drinkers because I didn’t want 
to be around people who were drinking. 

So you don’t drink onstage anymore. How was that transition? 

Jean: I'd quit before in years past for a year or so at a time and I’d think, 
“Wow! I really did that I’m going to celebrate. Get out the champagne!” 
I think what really freaked me out was the first shows | did after I quit. I 
did my solo album and I gave it to those Godspeed You Black Emperor 
people and they asked me to open on their West coast tour in ‘01. It was 
big audiences, The Vogue and it sold out. I’d done some solo things but 
it’s not the same. Man, was I happy when Dave came out. Mecca 
Normal had been inactive for a little bit so I was, “Come on, let’s get 
Mecca Normal on the bill.” One thing was that no matter how nervous 
and weird I felt I will not say that I’m really nervous & if I do pass out 
or die or my eyeballs fall out of my head, whatever is going to happen 
onstage, I accept that, that the audience will just see a woman having a 
complete freak out dissolving in front of them & that’s okay with me. 
That made any potential disaster of my own within my perimeters. 

Now I’ve never noticed if you drank onstage, David. 

David: Not to any degree. 

I want to know about your art piece which deals with Mackenzie 
King visiting the Nazis. I’m fascinated by this Canadian Prime 
Minister. 

David: He was such a weirdo and one of our more successful ones, 

Jean: More successful weirdos? 

David: Yeah, He ruled Canada for over twenty years. My story was a 
nine-page comic that was taken from his diaries when he visited Nazi 
Germany before World war Two broke out, so this would be in 1939. He 
wrote all these glowing things about Hitler and what a great guy he was 
and how he wished he could do the same thing in Canada because he 
thought that he was so warm and clearly the people loved him and he 
had some good ideas there. 

Jean: What’s the title of it? 

David: Noir Canada. It’s just recently been translated into Italian in a 
publication over there. It’s appeared in Broken Pencil and in a comic 
anthology in Slovakia. 

Did you connect it to any current political events? 

David: | took fragments of his diaries and wove them as a continuous 
thing with graphics from Nazi Germany. I didn’t contemporize it but 
that’s the implication, that here’s somebody he admired so much that a 
year later he would be at war with. It’s creepy how the world works and 
how people don’t seem to be functioning very articulately in terms of 
how they would judge politics and world events and this is your Prime 
Minister, If this is the way it was with Mackenzie King what’s it like 
with George Bush or with Tony Blair? What kind of blunders are they 
doing? We’re talking Nazi Germany! What are you going to see about a 
place that’s more subtly fascistic. It’s a cautionary tale but I didn’t 
editorialize, I played it straight. It’s a very sobering read in that way. 

The latest album isn’t all about dating. The last song has such an 
ending. I quote, “I’m so limited to the infinite unraveling of the 
universe.” What a way to end the album! Yet it’s very personal 
about being on a bus absorbing everything around you. 

Jean: Everyone gets off the bus before I do. 

Left alone. 

Jean: In a good way. I like being on the bus alone. You never know 
who’s going to get on next. 


aaa aaa 





















Karting Avueygate (Dionysus POB 1975 Burbank CA 
91507) Karling AbbeyGREAT! 


A-Bones “I Was A Teenage Mummy” (Norton) Maybe I’m 
not supposed to think this, but this soundtrack to a no-budget 
monster movie has always been the A-Bones record I dug the 
most. There's just something about trashy garage music 
played by aging juvenile delinquents that has an actual theme 
that floats my boat. Concept albums are for Emerson Lake 
and Palmer-types, so I love the way that when faced with the 
challenge of focusing on something the A-Boners seemed to 
let the beer and the Car 54 reruns distract them enough til 
they came up with the solution, “Uh... “Little Egypt,’ that’s 
sorta about mummies, right?” “Mum's the Word” and 
“Kashmiriam” are also two of my A-Bone fave raves, and 
over the years | have played the hell out of this gem on my 
pyramid’s hi-fi. Now they've added to the mummifying by 
including the killer “Free Beer for Life” ep and the I-never- 
even-seen-it-before “Tempo Tantrum” ep, plus some random 
obscurities, making this record the A-Boniest (of course, 
funny liner notes come standard) 





About “Bongo” (Cock Rock Disco) The FUTURE! 


Mary Abraham “The First Five” (maryabraham.com) I'm 
enchanted! Lovely voice, nice smile, fine songs, and a 
Modern English myspace page cover song. 


Accept “Metal Blast from the Past” DVD (Grakkar) I can’t 
recommend this highly enough, In some ways it's not good 
enough, as the bulk of this DVD is not some new overview of 
Accept’s metallic missionwork, but rather a brilliantly 
awkward late 80s “documentary” (including all their music 
videos and TV appearances) on this mighty German band that 
is far from comprehensive. The bonus material includes a 
good Bulgarian TV concert from the nineties and a handful of 
non-Udo videos That said, 1 endorse any DVD lionizing the 
greatest Patton Oswald-lookalike-led band in metal history, a 
band bold enough to make ultra-homoerotic tunes like 
“London Leatherboys,” and a band with a twin guitar attack 
mighty enough to make a tune called “Fast As A Shark” seem 
reasonable. Udo is one of the best metal singers of all time, a 
giant among men despite his size, and a genuinely magnetic 
performer. The footage of the band goofing around on tour is 
priceless, The DVD has a CD of unreleased demos on the flip 
side, and a detailed band history with photos and LP covers 
included. This is as balls to the wall as it comes. 


Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO “Have 
You Seen The Other Side of the Sky?” (Ace Fu POB 552 
NYC 10014), Kawabata Makoto & the Mothers of 
Invasion “Hot Rattlesnakes” (MVD Audio) Kawabata 
Makoto's amazing pysycheedelic anything music combo 
releases its 1,000" full length, and with the addition of Nao 
playing “erotic voice” you know this is a special one. On their 
latest album chaos is set aside for pirate shanties and bagpipe- 
sounding wails (electric sitar is what the instrument is listed 
as). Sure, pirate shanties are trendy, but fuck it, you can’t have 
too much pirate music, right? I'm not even going to try to 
determine why the Mothers of Invasion CD isn’t officially an 
AMT release, because I gave up after the recent tour when 
Kawabata and two other Japanoise legends took the stage and 
kept reconfiguring as solos, duos and trios, each combination 
declaring itself to be a several different bands depending on 
the material played. That said, this is one of the best AMT- 
related CDs I've ever heard, as the supposed chaos is actually 
incredibly centered and soothing, buildng to climaxes that 
sound sublimely mellow I their action-packed audio drama. I 
welcomed these snake bites, 





Adolescents “O.C. Confidential” (Finger, fingerrecords.com) 
It’s not the Adolescents fault. While the value of most great 
early 80s hardcore bands is measured by their influence, 
perhaps the greatest thing about this Southern California's 
band is that'they are not responsible for the awful sing-songy, 
nasal-vocal cookie-cutter pop punk that infested the 1990s 
and early 2000s (blame the Descendents). Instead, this band’s 


one great album (1981'a “The Adolescents,” better known as 
“The Blue Album”) featured genuine pop hooks balanced 
with convincingly aggressive rock musicianship and gravelly, 
substantial vocals. The band broke up soon after, but reformed 
in 1986 and spent a few years with various lineups playing 
mostly on the West Coast and releasing two more records. 
Though this is billed as the first album of new material in 
nearly two decades, that ignores the period in the 1990s when 
members recorded as the Adz, which I just figured was an 
age-appropriate renaming, like when New Kids on the Block 
becoming NKOTB or Immature becoming IMX. This is 
certainly their best work since their debut. The mostly classic 
lineup balances smart political anthems with dumb cartoonish 
skaterock aggression. Strong new material from a well 
seasoned band is always a good sign, but if you like this, and 
have never heard the old stuff, be sure to pick up the silver 
anniversary reissue of the Blue Album (on Frontier). 


Against All Authority “The Restoration of Chaos & Order” 
(Hopeless POB 7495 Van Nuys CA 91409) Best album ever 
by the first name in punk rock (alphabetically). 


Against Me! “Americans Abroad — Live In London” (Fat) 
That sounds like a pretty good live band, which I guess is a 
good enough reason to make a live album. Huskier, grittier, 
more aggressive versions of studio songs make me For You 
Against Me. 


A Global Threat “Where the Sun Never Sets” (Better Youth 
Organization POB 67609 LA CA 90067) Street punk that 
sounds as full and giant as 70s metal. 


Airport Cathedral “jetlag” (Burning Building) This is 
wicked indie! But with good production and awesome 
songwriting. 


Akimbo “Forging Stee! and Laying Stone” (Alternative 
Tentacles) A cauldron of fleshburning, molten Rock being 
poured from a castle turret onto us listeners who dare to try to 
breach their walls. And we like it! 


The Allen Oldies Band “On Jersey City’s WFMU FM” 
(Freedom POB 4084 Austin TX 78765) More fun than an 
orgy and more songs than a jukebox and more oldies than a 
nursing home and more banter than a paul Stanley solo 
concert. | LOVE the Allen Oldies band, and I believe they 
love me too. 


G.G. Allin and Antiseen (TKO 8941 Atlanta Ave. #505 
Huntington Beach, CA 92646) This is the record where they 
perform Gilbert and Sullivan operettas together. No? OK, this 
sounds exactly like Antiseen backing up G.G. Allin, and if 
you are fan of both (and how could you like one and not the 
other) you have a pretty good idea what this is. And you 
probably have this already. But there are bonus tracks and 
great pictures. 


All India Radio “echo other” (Minty Fresh) At some point 
ambient artists just need to make some music, and while this 
release is as mellow and elegant (or mellow-gent, as I like to 
say) as their last, there's some real groovy stuff on here and 
some super clean production that takes this to the level of 
jambient. 


Ambition (Locomotive POB 116.094 - 28080 Madrid Spain) 
AmBADtion. 


Ambulance LTD “New English” (TVT) Melodelicios. 


American Princes “Less and Less” (Yep Roc POB 4821 
Chapel Hill, NC 27515) As good as two Princes (let’s say 
Prince and his clone, rather than Prince and a lesser prince, 
like the Fresh Prince). The most exuberant rock ‘n’ roll band 
Arkansas has ever produced. 


Amon Amarth “With Oden on Our Side” (Metal Blade) The 
sonic equivalent of being gang raped by Vikings. 


Anarchism in America DVD (AK 674-A 23” St Oakland CA 
94612) Filmed in 1980 this documentary explores the history 
of anarchy in the U.S., especially pursuing the idea that the 


tenets of the philosophy are inherently American. One — 


interesting theme here is that the youngest ideologues seem 
the silliest (a campus group in the 60s is interviewed in a clip 
shot by the filmmakers as students, and “groovy”s and “far 
outs abound), and despite being incredibly impressive, 
extremely old anarchists seem more cute than threatening. It 
is the middle aged, sharo, articulate anarchists that seem the 
most powerful, and their power sadly lies in part with their 


89 


recognition of the unlikelihood of revolution. One 
gentleman’s description of the ways blind patriotism dampens 
dissent in times of crisis eerily foreshadows today's America. 
A bonus on this disc is a second documentary on Jewish 
anarchism. 


Anathallo “Floating World” (Nettwerk 8730 Wilshire Blvd, 
suite 304 BH, CA 90211) Anathstesia. 


the anatomic air review by Sinoun (2090A Highway 317 
#239 Suwanee GA 30024) Sinoun reviews everything. Not 
just zines and books, but also insects (mosquitos get a bad 
review), diseases (Raynaud’s got slammed) and ethnicities 
(Cambodians get a positive review). | hope he doesn't review 
reviews, because this one isn't that good. 


Ryan Anderson “Trains Take Away Old Friends” (BiFi) 
Ryan Geniusson. 

Andersen/Laine /Readman Project “III (Three) 
(Locomotive) On a scale of one to two I'd give this a Three! 


Andrew WK “Who Knows?” DVD (MVD) AWK’s amazing 
adventure in rock ‘n’ roll exploded with a thrilling bang as the 
world seemed to instantly embrace his odd brand of hard 
rocking dance music infused with messages of positivity 
Partying and violence and stupidity were held up lyrically as 
metaphors for freedom, kindness, altruism and love, 
Regardless of whether this made sense, it was an easy sell 
because the showman selling it was so sincere and so 
intensely enthusiastic that you believed what he said. And he 
really is a showman, as evidenced in this documentary/concert 
montage film. Between Mr. K.’s strangely intense narration 
we see that he always wears his dirty white rock uniform on 
stage, and his raucous bandmates each similarly adhere to an 
eclectic dress code, We see his wild stage moves and the 
mutual love between his audience and he (it seems like there 
is rarely a show where crowdmembers don’t end up sharing 
the stage with him). We see AWK making the show go on 
even from a wheelchair, And best of all we see a long 
montage of the song “I Love New York City being adapted to 
every town he plays in ("I love fill in the blank city!"). The 
man worked and this is a great document of a performer and 
audience totally in synch. 


An Early Frost DVD (POB 64 New Almaden CA 95042) 
This made-for-TV movie was one of the first bits of media to 
deal with AIDS, and considering the absurdist history of 
venereal disease TV movies (the melodramatic Anthony 
Geary/Mark Harmon herpes flick made Love Bout seem like 
Das Boot) it’s amazingly good. Aidan Quinn plays a beautiful 
lawyer who gets sick quick, and has to return to his parents, 
played by the mighty Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, and 
come out, get treatment, and gain acceptance in his family and 
hometown during the early AIDS days when paramedics 
wouldn't touch you and people were confused by your 
condition. While this is a little too precious, it’s not as cloying 
or as emotionally sterile as other early AIDS flicks (like 
Longtime Companion), Basically, this is a decent MFTV flick 
with A-list actors elevating it to somewhere special. 


An Epic at Best “There Will Be Rain” (Two Sheds POB 
5455 Atlanta GA 31107-5455) Best is right! While cloaking 
some of their charms in mellow sounding, quiet sounds, at its 
heart this densely layered, masterfully crafted music is super 
seductive. The quirky coolness of “Weight of Words” and a 
tune about birds that almost sounds like a campfire song make 
this CD if not an epic achievement, certainly epic-ish. 


Ashley Parker Angel “Soundtrack to Your Life” (Universal) 
Ashley Parker Awful. 


Angel Blake (Metal Blade) Should be called Devil Cake! 


Anna Oyxgen “This Is An Exercise” (Kill Rock Stars) Most 
of today’s punky, low-budget 80s New Wave revivalists seem 
to be goofing on the absurdity of electronic pop, or rejoicing 
in the way this stuff sounds great even when it sounds terrible. 
Ms. Oxygen does not come from this campy camp. Yes, she 
has an intense philosophical dialogue with the equivalent of 
one of those talking Billy Bass fish on this CD, but for the 
most part this is about electronics being exquisite and 
beautiful and perfect, contrasting with weak, imperfect, sad 
humanity, which is represented by haunting, melancholy 
vocals. This is as absurd as a Nuevo Wave-o dress up act, but 
it's a sublime, poignant absurdity in action here. 


“Anti-Disco League vol. 1” compilaion (Templecombe 
Records POB 602 Bayside NY 11706) Oi music is always 





good. If that makes me a hooligan, so be it, but every Oi comp 
| ever hear makes me want to chant, stomp and give the two- 
finger salute. Contemporary international Oisters celebrated 
on this comp include The Templars, Des Control and the 
awesome Urban Riot. 


The Antiques “nicknames and natives” (Banter) Does not 
rock, 


Anti-Social Music + The Gena Rowlands Band “The 
Nitrate Hymnal” (Lujo Records) Anti-interesting music. Gena 
Rowlands would roll over in her grave if she heard this dull 
music made in her name, and if she was dead, which | hope 
she isn't 


“A.O.G. Media Presents Compilation Vol. 6” AOG POB 
3652 Victoria TX 77903) Highlights on this comp include the 
metallic mastery of Jose Diaz and the smooth pop rock of 
Kama Linden. 


Apollo Up! “Chariots of Fire” (Theory 8) 1 never understood 
why Elvis Costello was considered punk, but hearing this 
band (with songwriting and vocal phrasings that borrow 
liberally from Mr. C, then rough it all up) I now get it 


The Applicators “My Weapon” (King Fing'r/Hairball 8) 
Angry. powerful rock ‘n’ roll that applicates some fine pop 
hooks. 


Adam Arcuragi (High Two 7835 Devon St Philadelphia PA 
19118) Hearing this mildly pleasant singer songwriter's semi- 
dramatic tunes made me realize | didn’t give a dam. 


Arma Secreta “A Century's Remains” (rthmtc pob 11461 
Memphis, TX 38111) Rich, dense, jittery futuristic rock with 
much better, more emotional singing than is usually attached 
to mathematical music. 


Artery “into the garden ~ an artery collection” (Cherry Red) 
Apparantly this band was a contemporary of New Order and 
and are supposed to fit in with that stuff, and they 
have some killer post-punk grooves, but the singer 
sounds @ little too Spandau Ballet to pull off the drama, 





Asobi Seksu “Citrus” (Friendly Fire) A gentle tsunami of 
Jatringly dreamy pop sounds. 


Ass Ponys “The Okra Years” (Shake It, shakeitrecords.com) 
Ohio's greatest psychedelic hillbillies released a few fine 
albums in the early nineties before going for No Depression 
gold, and these two dises present the best of those early days, 
plus some rarities/unreleased tracks, Sounds like Ass! 


Asteroid/Blowback split CD (Fuzzorama) Asteroid are 
amazing because they are prog, yet seem to have a sense of 
humor with their sometimes whimsical arrangements of 
heavy, melodic magnitudinous music. Blowback know their 
way around a cowbell and a wah wah pedal. Combine the two 
on one disc and all you need is some headphones and a large 
glass water pipe full of oregano-like substance and you are set 
for the weekend. 


Automatic Head Detonator “fuk u all” (Lo-Fi) This is what 
white people should be doing with hip hop samplers and 
music making technology. Making beat-based rock n roll that 
samples the guitar grooves it needs allowing would-be rockers 
to forego music lessons just like would be rappers. Mighty, 
absurd, and earth moving! 


The Avatars “Never A Good Time” (No Fun POB 8154 Ann 
Arbor MI 48107) This is great! | love rock ‘n’ roll, and 
Apparently I'm not the only one. Mariah Cherem combines the 
phrasing and tone of Chrissie Hydes with some rockabilly 
Swagger and some garage rock energy. The band is making 
music so pure and mighty that anyone who doesn’t like this is 
stupid. And the bass is booming. 


Avenpitch “Butterfly radio” (Omega Point) Now that’s what 
I call synth rock! 


Avett Brothers “The Gleam” (Ramseur Records 6565 
Foothills Lasne Concord NC 28025) | officially change the 
phrase uvant garde to Avett garde! That may not seem to 
apply to acoustic guitar minimal folk song-type music, but 
this is strnagley edgy and jarring. 


Aviador Dro “Electrico” (Omega Point) This career overview 
of this fun, silly, futuristic, absurdist Spanish electronica band 
covers tracks from 1978 to 2078, all of them sounding 





technologically similar, implying that their gear is from space. 
The highlight here is a live track that makes the Talking 
Heads concert film seem like an episode of Doodlebops. 


Roy Ayers “in concert” DVD (inakustic) Unlike most 
releases from this series of the German Ohne Filter 
productions, this isn’t from the 80s, and is not as dated or hard 
to get into as its Miami Vice-couture-clad brethren. Ayers set, 
recorded in 1994, features a helping of vibraphonic soul that 
will make everyone love the sunshine even more. While there 
are some cool jazz clichés that will annoy purists, Ayers puts 
in a focused, deep performance that is really easy to dig. 


Baby Calendar “Gingerbread Dog” (HHBTM POB 742 
Athens GA 30603) Bad baby. 


Bad Brains “Live CBGB 1982" DVD (MVD) Fuck yes! You 
can say a lot of things about HR and company, and these 
dudes left themselves open for a some serious criticism over 
the years, but no one can challenge their ferocity, brilliance 
and prowess as a live act, You'll flip for this incredible 
document of a mighty band at their mightiest. Shot with semi- 
pro amateurism, this looks exactly like a hardcore video 
should, and if you can peel your eyes away from the magnetic 
performers as they question how low a punk might possibly 
get, or describing ways one might make payment to ejaculate 
(or getting all reggae on these hardcore kids" asses), you will 
see a great snapshot of 1982 just by looking at the East Coast 
punk audience going apeshit for these geniuses. You NEED 
this, with a capitol NEED! 


Ballzack “Chipmunk Dream Machine” (Lambs on Helium 
POB 13062 Chicago IL 60613) Ballz to the wallz oddball 
genre-pushing. Like Beck without the Scientology. 


‘ 
Balun “Something Comes Our Way” (Brilliante pob 578780 
Chicago IL 60657) This Puerto Rican electronic/acoustic band 
Presents a dreamy mix of mellow, minimal music that brings 
to mind seductive Stereolab songs, non-boring atmospheric 
soundscapes, and the best children’s music. And by the best 
children’s music we don't mean a slumming Ralph Covert or 
some goofing Wiggles, but rather the ethereal, brilliant 
soundtracks that you'd hear on 1970s school filmstrips or 
during the playful films that appeared on Sesame Street. It's 
this playfulness that makes these multi-instrumentalists 
(between the three members you get a healthy sampling of 
melodica, accordion, synths, violin, guitar, glockenspiel, bass, 
Celtic harp, toy piano, drums, and laptop noodling) stand out 
from other blippy keyboard sounds-and-breathy vocals acts. 





Bambix “Club Matuchek” (Go Kart POB 20 NYC 10012) 
Genuine, endearing melodies make this muscular punk seem 
more sincere and powerful than most hard rocking stuff, but 
the husky female vocals make the pop aspects seem rougher 
than the whiny, nasal vocals most dudes apply to the same 
stuff. 


The Bamboo Kids “Cokehound Loves Me” b/w “Guns of 
Brooklyn” (Manic Panda) “Feel Like Hell” (Empty, pob 
12301 Portland OR 97212) BamBOOM! This is nasty, 
genuine Brooklyn punk that combines the best attitudes of 
nasty 60s garage rockers, pre-hardcore punk rockers, and 
those 1940s Brooklyn kids in the movies who wore newsboy 
caps, said “Youse” and smoked little stubby cigars. 


90 





Banda Uniao Black (Commonfolk, 
commonfolkrecords.com) American funk and disco and soul 
Brazilianized to perfection. 


Bang! Bang! “Decked Out” (Morphius) Banged me stupid! 
As fun a band as Chicago has produced since that big fire, 
these bangers know how to bring the sexy. Even when they 
crank it down to nine (even eight at times — this is the cool-out 
album after the freak-out EP) they still excite and delight. 


Barbarellatones “Invasion of the Surf Zombies!” 
(barbarellatones.com) Now THAT'S monster movie surf 
garage silliness! Any band that boasts “I had sex with a 
C.H.U.D.” can dwell in my underground anytime! 


Bargain Music “American Born” (CornerstoneRAS 6285 
Spring St. #234 Long Beach, CA 90804) Boredom Music. 


Sophie Barker “earthbound” (emperor) Too pretty for me to 
process. 


Barkley’s Barnyard Critters Mystery Tail DVD (Load) This 
animated feature is remarkable — the combination of computer 
animation, hand drawn backgrounds, live action puppetry, and 
profound weirdness makes this tale of a rock ‘n’ roll dog, an 
ambitious rival, and a high-stakes rap contest a treat 
However, at times the quirks, oddness, and non-sequiturs 
make this a bit of a chore, One problem is that the entire 
cartoon peaks early with an amazing Banana Splits-like 
whammo-blammo musical number that is absolutely 
breathtaking. While the rap contest ~ especially an early act 
that is disqualified on a technicality — is pretty good, nothing 
in this long narrative compares to the mighty musical 
Opening. 


Syd Barrett “Under Review” DVD (Chrome Dreams) I can't 
add anything to the super lengthy Syd obit that appears 
elsewhere in this issue, but suffice to say that there's as much 
Syd footage here as anywhere, and someone this elusive, 
special, and frequently misrepresented needs to be analyzed 
and appreciated, making this a release that makes sense. 


Joe Bataan “Anthology” (Koch 740 Broadway NYC 10003) 
As part of Koch's Salsoul reissue series this compilation 
features some genuinely joyful Latin R&B, as Bataan was the 
Latin fusionaire, just as Jimmy Castor was the black dude on 
the other side of the Harlem street working similar grooves. 
Features the great cover of Gil Scott Heron's “The Bottle,” 
the soulful/post-Disco Jocelyn Brown song “Sadie (She 
Smokes)" and (most valuably, perhaps) one of the great 
missteps in the early history of recorded hip hop “Rap-O 
Clap-0.” 


Bathtub Shitter “Grind Dancer” (Shit Jam. 
bathtubshitter.com) Japanese extreme grind/manic/insani-core 
so good/awful it made me shit myself 


Battleship “earts addendum,” “princess” ep (On/On Switch 
POB 641122 SF, CA 94164) Made my brain feel like it barely 
survived the battle and was shipped to fucked up-ville. Music 
so angular it broke my protractor. 


The Beatings “Holding on the Hand Grenades” (Midriff, 
midriffrecords.com) No one likes 80s-style gay-ish Euro. 
singing more than me, so obviously I think this is pretty good 
It didn’t exactly beat me, however. 


The Be Good Tanyas “Hello Love” (Netwerk) This actually 
do be good. Country-esque music with heart, soul and 
whatever comes between. 


Jay Bennett “the magnificent defeat" (Ryko, 
tykodise.com)This CD was made for ipods, as all the songs 
are good, and Jay definitely proved himself (if this was 
necessary) but this is more of a collection than an album. 
Each song works better as a single, lushly produced 
Springsteen/Beatles obsessive-meets-Bloodshot Records 
masterpiece better than th as parts of a whole. 


Beowulf “The Re-Releases” (1 Scream) Mid-80s L.A. thrash 
dogs with Lemmy-like vocals and muscular attacks (they 
were down with Suicidal Tendencies, so you get the idea). A 
bizarre attempt to make Smokey Robinson's “Cruising” a 
hard and heavy rock anthem makes this reissue collection 
worth seeking out. 


Best Zine Ever (POB 12409 Portland OR 97212) The reason 
this zine-review zine is the best zine review zine (ever) is that 
the writer sare so incredibly invested in and knowledgeable of 


the zines they are reviewing and making zines in general that 
their comments are actually meaningful. This publication is 
inspiring in part because it lists scores of zines you never 
heard of that sound awesome and it's nice to know so many 
creative people are doing their thing, but also because it's nice 
to read that so many people (the reviewers in BZE!) actually 
care about this stuff. 


Bettie Ford “league of fools” (Locomotive) Barfight rock ‘n’ 
roll that broke a musical bottle over my head. 


Bettie Serveert “bare stripped naked” (Minty Fresh, 
mintyfresh.com) Fantastic music by a band that shoulda been 
bigger, though this album leans a little too much towards 
misery and heartbreak for my sensitive disposition. Great 
guitar playing and yet another dose of Carol van Dyk arguing 
with her lovely vox that you should fall in love with her by 
virtue of her soul, talent and dreaminess. In fact, the sad-ish 
songs here make you want to also nurture and protect her. 
Includes a concert/behind the scenes DVD. 


Betty Paginated zine (bettpaginated, blogspot.com) Best titty 
magazine ever! 


Big Sleep “Son of the Tiger” (Frenchkiss. 
frenchkissrecords.com, 111 East 14* St. suite 229 NYC 
10003) Should be called The Big Woke My Ass The Hell Up! 


“Big Star Small World” (Koch) This decade-old, just- 
released tribute album to the American kings of power pop 
features some of the biggest names (of nineties alternative 
rock) doing sound-alike covers of Big Star songs. Unless you 
are a Gin Blossoms, Teenage Fanclub , or (more plausibly) 
Wilco completist | don't see why you would buy this. The 
only band that doesn’t try to sound exactly like Big Star is Big 
Star who recorded a new track but unfortunately thought they 
were recording it for a Box Tops tribute album. 


Big Treal “Back From the Drawing Board,” “Treal Is Dead - 
The Mixtape,” Big Treal & DJ Wiz “Cheddar Biscuits” 
(policyent.com) | wish we gave out microphones, because | 
would give this Southern MC 50 mics for these CDs. 


Bigwig “Reclamation” (Fearless 11785 Cardinal Circle 
Garden Grove CA 92843) Badwig. 


Mark Bilyeu "First One Free” (MayApple 1006 S. Delaware 
Ave. Springfield MO 65804) Bilyeu’s poppish country-rock is 
played with virtuoso gusto on this soaring CD. The 
songwriting is super solid, the twang is never fake, and the 
influences (blues at times a touch of bluegrass here or there, a 
Byds-ian flightplan, a little Vince Gill slick contempo- 
country) are tapped without aping anything or pigeonholing 
the music 


Sam Bisbee “oxygen” (Terrible Records) Sam Bitchbee. 
Bizarro (myspace.com/bizarromyspace) Should be called 


BiSTARo, because these rock stars are going straight to the 
top! 





Black Bear Combo “s/t” (blackbear.com) Citing influences 
as wide ranging as free-jazz giant Albert Ayler and the classic 
80s punk of GBH, this Chicago trio's new CD is surprisingly 
unmodern. With a plaintive saxophone and regimented 
drumming, this combo evokes an old-world Balkan dance 
party where cigarettes dangle from drunken dancer's fingers 
and mustaches are a must. If there is an ironic wink in here it's 
subtle enough not to spoil the fun. 


Black Fiction “Ghost Ride” (Howells Transmitter 2839 24” 
St. SF, CA 94110) More fictive than black. If the movie's 
producer's decide to use the title track to this CD in the new 
Ghost Rider action/horror movie than it will be a far more 
mellow, introspective, pretty film than I was anticipating. 


the black heart procession “the spell” (Touch and Go POB 
25520 Chicago IL 60625) If they let violin players in piano 
bars this is the band that would get me to fill that giant brandy 
sifter halfway to the top with crumpled dollar bills. 


Blackmore's Night “The Village Lanterne” (SPV) Mr. 
Blackmore, formally of Deep Purple and Rainbow, has 
wrangled a fair maiden to sing a flagon-full of Middle Ages- 
core rock songs that would turn out any Renaissance Faire. 


Black Neon “Arts and Crafts” (Memphis Industries) Ready 
for ringtone bubblegum art pop. 


i. llUUlUl._._._._._._._._ rrr LL eee 


Black Pus “Untitled,” “Black Pus 2” (Diareah Records) 
Battlestar Galacti-Crap comix (?) Coming form the metal, if 
no longer physical, space that is Fort Thunder, this sax crime 
is brutal, bubbly and bomb-like. If this doesn’t both scare you 
and make you giggle you may need meds. The comic is just 
fucking great. | love how these chaos merchants are equally 
dedicated to making boundary pushing messes and to telling 
really good, extremely simple, fun to read stories. 


Charles Blackwell Orchestra “those plucking strings” 
(RPM) This is an ultra-obscure lost Joe Meek album, a 
previously unreleased collaboration with his young arranger 
Charles Blackwell that was an attempt to take the upbeat 
skiffle sound, which is supposed to be ragged street corner 
music, and arrange it orchestrally. The result is, of course, 
muzak-like, but there are slight glimmers of Meek weirdness, 
and especially if you are a fan of his instrumental production 
this might be worth a listen. 


Blag’ard “blank faced clocks” (pob 5132 Chapel Hill, NC 
27514) Bla’GREAT! 


The Blakhiv “Any Way She Wants It" (Lucid) This band 
plays both kinds of music: rock and roll! 


Blanc Faces (Locomotive) Sounds like 80s Heart. They don’t 
even play 80s Heart on the VHI all 80s channel 


Blanket Music “Love Translation” (Hush pob 12713 Portland 
OR 97212) A blanket of hits! 


Blank Its “Happy Accidents” (Empty POB 12301 Portland 
OR 97212) You can't make better rock than this. Trash punk 
that is so direct, powerful, and stumblingly awesome that it 
made me throw away every record I own with a keyboard on 
it. 


The Bleachers “Suspicion” (Village Industries) Blechh-er. 


Bléédhag “Hell Bent for Letters” (Alternative Tentacles) I'm 
sure that many death metal fans will pretend that this isn't as 
good as some other stuff justy because Bloddhag is playing 
the role of a “novelty” metal band here, in the sense that all 
the songs are about authors and there is a 
literary/library/librarian theme throughout. But songs about 
Frederik Pohl, Madeline L'Engle, and Philip Jose Farmer are 
certainly as mighty and evil as songs about Satan, Wotan, and 
cannibalism, and more importantly, this is some of the 
mightiest metal this side of Hell Adjacent. You can't shush 
the Bloodhag! 


Blood Meridian “Kick Up the Dust” (V2) These Canadian 
cowboys are far more dusty and hazy and even at times jangly 
than bloody. But I guess Dust Meridian ain't a good name. 





Bloody But Unbowed: Bloodshot Records’ Life in the 
Trenches DVD (Bloodshot) This DVD celebrates a decade- 
plus of Chicago's insurgentest label. About half of the music 
clips that open this up are live footage, a lot from SXSW 
performances, and you can definitely see thatsome of these 
artists are crazy talented, notably some of the pickers, fiddlers 
and steel guitaristion Rauhouse. But what kills me are the 
proper music videos made by artists that know they have no 
chance of getting played on MTV or CMT or BET or 
anywhere. Since all are pretty low budget it’s great to see how 
these clever folks get creative. Both one man band 
extraordinaire Scott Biram and local hokels Devil In A 


91 


Woodpile get around the budgetary woes by making their 
clips look lie ancient films. The Detroit Cobras came through 
with a slick dance video with costumes and lots of extras. For 
Chicagoans in “the scene” the best video maybe the Waco 
Brothers clip that features a tour of Screwball's screenprinting 
studio. The Extras include a couple of history of Bloodshot 
videos, including one where Jon Langford and Andre 
Williams badmouth the label, a documentary on the 
Sundowners, and a long tribute to the label by our own Chic- 
A-Go-Go kiddie show. Throw in a poster gallery, photos, and 
more video images of Langford’s disturbing devil beard and 
Bare Jr's drooping, shaggy hairdo than you care to see. 


Blowfly “Butt Pirate” b/w “F U in the A” (Steel Cage) What 
is awesome about this anal sex single from this veteran party 
record pottymouth is that his recent foray into punk parody 
actually has the Fly singing in a punk style.! As funny as all 
of his records. 


The Blue Bloods “Death of a Salesman” (I Scream, POB 
46608 LA, CA 90046) Street punk that I would cross the 
street to avoid if I saw them coming down the sidewalk at 
night. Genuine Oi chanting and gruff, rough vocals kicked my 
ass until I was actually assless. 


Blue Cheer (Live, Intonation Fest, Chicago, June 25, 2006) I 
don't have to tell you Roky was a rough damned act to follow, 
but | had a feeling that Blue Cheer would surprise people, not 
the least of all being me. The band appeared, flanked by an 
impenetrable wall of amps, and quickly set about to turn the 
air into cottage cheese, as their former manager, Gut, once, 
aptly put it. During the opener, “Babylon,” I could only feel 
the throb of the drums, the discordant blare of guitar and bass, 
and, occasionally, | heard bits and pieces of the song itself. 
Soon, I'd equalized the music in my head, and it all made 
sense. The proto-Speed Metal of "Second Time Around” got 
the crowd up and rockin’, to the brutal exchange of Paul 
Whaley's “Concussion Aus Percussion,” Dickie Peterson's 
“Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn in a land mine “ bass attack, and 
newcomer (that is, if nearly 20 years service makes you “the 
new guy"), Andrew MacDonald (also known as “Duck,” it 
happens) on guitar, matching Leigh Stephens’ original 
excursion of bludgeoning feedback without mimicking his 
sound outright. MacDonald has had his work cut out for him, 
but he more than rose to the task. Treble-heavy monsterrific 
riffage erupting from Mount Killed-a-Man-jaro! The sheer 
sonic brutality in his delivery never belies the fact that he is, 
in fact, a fine lead guitarist. First album faves “Out Of Focus" 
and the Mose Allison classic, “Parchment Farm” only served 
to further the cause of splitting protons in the air and in your 
skull. Dickie's copped to having a sore throat (it happens 
when you sing like he does!), but still managed to put across 
some of the nastiest, most gutteral vocal raunch this side of 
Hell. | don't think even Lemmy, Jim Dandy, or the millions of 
Cookie Monster-voiced Black/Speed/Stoner Metal guys out 
there today would disagree. "Just A Little Bit,” from their 
second album, continued the pace, featuring Paul Whaley's 
pummeling, primal Rock drumming and more of 
MacDonald's toxic Blues/Psych spillage. Finally, came the 
big moment (tho’ these guys don't do NUTHIN’ small). After 
Dickie stopped to share a few hilarious bits of stream-of- 
consciousness with the crowd, he took a moment to get 
serious. He told the audience that THEY were the fourth 
member of Blue Cheer (I'm not making this up), and that we 
all have to look out for each other, asking each of us to look to 
the other, and know that's what it’s all about (a gay couple in 
front of me took his advice). Brother Dickie preached on: 
"Hey, people laugh when you say "Peace and Love.” That's 
bullshit! 1 don't,care what you smoke or what you snort or 
what you blow out of your asshole, it's still all about peace 
and love, man!” With that, he introduced the Eddie Cochran 
cover song that kick-started the whole thing for them, nearly 
40 years ago. “Summertime Blues" actually upped the ante, 
though the whole set sounded great, and got so close to the 
original sound, this was just that much closer... | waited over 
20 years to sce this band, and the wait was worth it. Blue 
Cheer are definitely not pandering to the nostalgia set, nor 
even the modern Metal neophytes (though all are welcome to 
attend when church is in session). This is a life's work. Sittin’ 
over here on The Parchment Farm, lord, there ain't no cure for 
the summertime blues. 


The Blue Moon Boys by Ken Burke and Dan Griffin 
(Chicago Review Press) This book chronicles the careers, 
private lives, and post-court life of the King’s back up band in 
his years when he was actually the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, 
rather than his later (and current) reign as the more 
amorphous King of American pop culture. Scotty Moore, Bill 
Black, and later D.J. Fontana were the music behind Elvis 


Presley on his greatest records, during his greatest concerts, 
and at the most important points of his career (his auditions, 
his breakthrough recording session, his crossover to 
superstardom, his TV appearances) and it is a wonder that 
they have never been given a treatment like this before. This 
book certainly isn't an encyclopedic Guralnick-style Elvis 
tome, but just the same, you get the feeling that Burke and 
Griffin spoke to just about everyone that needed to be spoken 
to. The story of the band members years estranged from Elvis, 
of some of the troubles they've faced; of Black's death (the 
info they gathered on the late Black is pretty impressive), and 
the fact that their may be a personality flaw or two these 
gentleman possess are all covered to great satisfaction here by 
authors who have incredible sympathy for their subjects. 
Perhaps the reason Burke (a frequent Roctober contributor, 
and the man responsible for the writing in the book, Griffin 
conducted interviews and did research) may have such 
affection for these cats is that he’s a real Blue Moon Boy of 
writing. Though he has the skills to shine like a star, he knows 
that the best work possible will result from his doing 
excellent, sturdy writing that never outshines the star: his 
subject matter, Burke’s writing is always about conveying the 
most interesting, accurate, important information about the 
artist he is loyal to. Unlike gonzo rock critics of the Creem 
era, or insane egoists like Albert Goldman, Burke is not here 
to show off or to feel powerful, he is here to tell a story. 
Backgrounds in writing for music guides and for children 
have really helped him; Burke always makes sure the reader 
understands what he’s trying to convey, and his easy, 
conversational style is never cocky, and never lords his 
expertise over the reader. Not only is this book a fascinating 
story about some unsung heroes, and the unseen side of 
superstardom, but it’s also an incredibly pleasant read. 


Blue Suede News magazine (box 25 Duvall, WA 98019) 
Happy 20" anniversary BSN! A mighty achievement for any 
mag, and we hope you have another few two-decade cycles of 
documenting and honoring the obscure, deserving rockabilly 
and blues heroes you have been championing since 
Madonna's heyday 


Blues Sisters “sister to sister” (Slusaj Najglasnije! Teskovec 
27 10090, Zagreb Croatia) Damn, it’s bluesy in here. 


Blue Skies For Black Hearts “Love Is Not Enough” (King of 
Hearts POB 42174 Portland OR 97242) Should be called 
Gold Skies for Platinum Hearts because they are going to sell 
a million copies of this awesome record! 


The Blue Van “Dear Independence" (TVT) These Danishes 
prune the excesses of rock ‘n’ roll and end up with some 
bluesy, Kinks-ish, garage-organ grinders that make dress up 
60s bands sound like posers and actual posers sound like 
gardeners 


Blue Velvet “Four Songs” (Phraty POB 14267 Cincinnati OH 
45250) Not particularly bluesy or velvety 


Todd Bogin “The Midwest Fables” (ToddBogin.com) 
Bogin's songs are genuinely enjoyable as they grab you by 
the ears and heart and shake. Maybe hold back on the 
harmonica next CD, but for the most part this non-folk/non- 
coffeehouse singer songwriter album is pretty flawless. 


Bones “Disconnected” (Bonestheband.com) You gotta dig 
these swampy garage blusters because they sound more like 
Tom Waits than Jon Spencer 


Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy “The Letting Go" (Drag City) I think 
Mr. Oldham has a very pleasant singing voice. 


Bottle Rockets “Zoysia” (Bloodshot 3039 W. Irving Park Rd. 
Chicago IL 60618) OK, we get it, you're regular guys. But if 
you're so regular how come you can out-Mellencamp 
Mellencamp without working up a sweat? 


Boysetsfire “The Misery Index: Notes From The Plague 
Years” (Equal Vision, equalvision.com) | only know one 
person that likes thias band and he told me this was their best 
album ever. OK, it’s way better than their Wind-Up and 
Victory CDs, but it still sounds bad. Emo-hardcore is a bad 
idea 


Seth Bradley “6* and Anywhere” (Drysdale, 
sethbradley.com) With a clean, clear sound to his voice, and a 
romantic, poppy singer-songwriter style, Seth could charm 1/2 
the frat girls in America to do whatever he wants. Such as, 
buy his CD. 


Meredith Bragg and the Terminals “The Departures” 
(Kora) Delicate sensitive music that to my rock damaged ears 
seems like nothing to bragg about. Though I dig where he's 
coming from — if I was a dude named Meredith I'd probably 
be sensitive, too. Or I would have changed my name to 
Megadeth Bragg. 


Branches “grown in you” (Contraphonic POB 2203 Chicago, 
IL 60690) Simultaneously sounds like solid, comfortable, 
normal music and bizarre strange crazy people music. 


Breakup Breakdown “She Went Black” (Cordless) Broke 
Kinda good rockin’ music, way awful singing 


Bridges and Powerlines (bridgeandpowerlines.com) More 
actual rockin’ rock than post-punk jagged rock this is 
bridgerrific! 


Paul Brill “harpooner” (Scarlet Shame POB 20680 Park West 
Station NYC 10025) Brill ain't. Or maybe he is. 
Melodramatical in a way that I couldn't follow. 


Brimstone Howl “M-60" (Boom Chick) Brim-stoned me! 
Retarded demons making insane noises. 


Brownstar “Turn Up the Brown” (brownstar.net) Does for 
Brown what Hagar did for red! Reflective rock that 
reflectively rocks! 


Buffalo Killers (Alive) Like the famed rock ‘n’ roll buffalo 
that proceded them they are great and white! More Beatles on 
acid than Nuge on raw meat, these Midwesterners take off for 
the Far East and Outer Space musically. 


Carol Bui “this is how I recover” (Drunken Butterfly pob 
230932 Centerville VA 20120) Buitiful! 


Kate Bush “Under Review” DVD (Sexy Intellectual) 
Apparently (according to music experts) Kate Bush is a 
brilliant lyricist, a weirdo, and is pretty 





Jack Butwell “The Story of My Life” (Stone & Soil 611 
Nesbitt Punta Gorda FL 33950) Butwell released obscure, 
low-key, self-released Country records in the 60s and 70s. 
NRBQ championed him around the time of his death in 1983, 
but a proper release of his singles and album was never likely, 
so this is a real treat. Butwell ran a number of businesses in 
Florida, and one was a skateboard shop, so this CD actually 
features a hillbilly-style salute to skateboarding. I'd love to 
see a Thrasher video using this. Generally this is just a 
wonderful, pleasant, enjpoyable collection of gems and you'd 
be doing yourself a favor by picking it up. 


Buzzcocks “flat-pack philosophy"(Cooking Vinyl) Pete 
Shelley is still incredibly convincing as a teenager having 
difficulty with the girls and anger at the system. I don't 
understand why they are still so good, but they really are. 


Cacti Widders “One Way Ticket” (Fallen Angel POB 3372 
Burbank CA 91508) Psychobilly executed with expert 
psychobility! 


Caeser Pink and the Imperial Orgy “Gospel Hymns for 
Agnostics and Athiests” (Chief Logan 64 Dupont St. suite 2L 
Brooklyn NY 11222) Caeser stink. 


Caliban “the Undying Darkness” (Abacus, 
abacusrecordings.com) German's just can’t bring the Metal 
anymore. I blame the Scorpions’ post-Berlin Wall fall 
balladry, 

92 


‘Cameran “a caesarean” (innocent words pob 456 Oakwod IL 
61858) Groovy to the extreme. 


Cancer Bats “Birthing the Giants” (Abacus) Drove me batty! 
And cancerous! 


Candido — Hands of Fire DVD (MVD) This video 
documentary is not a piece of masterful craftsmanship, but it's 
a crucial document as it features extensive interviews with the 
amazing Cuban percussionist who took Mongo Santamaria’ s 
conga success to new heights by becoming a jazz (hard and 
soft), Latin music, disco, pop, and dance music icon. His 
history is a good one, his screen presence, voice, and 
storytelling are superb (even in Spanish, which I can hardly 
follow) and there is some fun contemporary live performance 
footage. While it is awesome to see his photo collection, and 
hear how he plays in his twilight years (still pretty hard) the 
absence of archival footage is a shame. One of the highlights 
here is that during the testimonials by various musicians and 
scholars and fans Tony Bennett explains that he and Candido 
are basically best friends and neighbors. | liked that. 


Candie Hank “Groucho Running” (Sonig, candiehank.com) 
International dance music naughtiness that will make your CD 
player sticky 


Candy Bars “On Cutting Tigers in Half and Understanding 
Narration” (New Grenada pob 360276 Tampa FL 33673) 
More like that dusty lavender gum than a candy bar, this is a 
subtle, strange confection for particular tastes that is a little 
spooky and seems to be geared towards the old and sensitive 


Candygram For Mongo “The Red Pill” 
(candygramformongo.com) Having a good idea for a band 
name isn't enough, you need to bring the rock, guys. 


Cannibal Corpse “Kill” (Metal Blade) As they once again 
prove, Cannibal Corpse are so far and away the best at what 
they do that they are nasically the evil Beatles. In fact, | 
wouldn't be surprised if they ate the remains of the two 
deceased Liverpudlians en route to becoming the gold 
standard of their gruesome genre, 


The Capes “Hello” (Hard Soul 1250 Long Beach Ave suite 
219 LA CA 90021) My ex-girlfriend wanted kids. 1 wasn't 
completely opposed, so it could have worked out. But then 
she told me she hated to see kids wearing capes in public. 
Towels-and-safety pin Superman capes, Halloween plastic 
Dracula capes, even the rare kid ata parade with an American 
flag as cape ala Freddie Mercury. When it became clear that 
our theoretical spawn would have a cape-free childhood our 
breakup was inevitable. Not only do | insist my kid wears a 
cape, I regret that | don't have the balls to wear a cape in 
public, Ike Turner wore a cape in public! Phil Spector wore a 
cape in public! OK, maybe with those two examples mean 
that you shouldn't marry a cape-wearer, but c'mon, kids in 
capes rule! By the way. this is a pretty good rocking Brit-pop 
record. It's jaunty! 


“Captain Beefheart Under Review” DVD (Sexy 
Intellectual) Some would argue that Beefheart is easier to talk 
about than listen to. You wouldn't know that from this 
release, Though this jabbering rock intelligentsia series has 
had many excellent primers of critically beloved musicians, I 
think the British producers of this may not grasp American 
madness and genius as well as they do their own, Any number 
of impossible to understand Beefheart songs, paintings, 
whatevers present a case for his genius with far more clarity 
than this DVD. 


Carbon 14 magazine (www.cl4.com) This magazine is 
always good, but when it’s great, like this issue, it really 
justifies the obvious zillions of hours of labor that goes into it. 
This issue features (amongst dozens of other things) relatively 
long, extremely intelligent interviews with Rudy Ray Morre 
and Jerry “The King” Lawler, and both are done by writers 
who have done the research, learned how to listen, and know 
better than to impose stereotypical preconceptions on the tone 
of the article or the questions (hard to do with chitlin’ circuit 
comics and pro wrasslers). This is great stuff. 


Chris Carelli “anthology” (Kharmo POB 8787 Chula Vista. 
CA 91912) Absolutely brilliant classical acoustic guitar 
mastery! What more can be said? 








Carina Round “Slow Motion Addict” (Weapons of Mass 
Entertainment) Careened me around with her enchanting 
weirdness. 





Barton Carroll “Love & War” (Skybucket) Should be called 
Bart-one, because this is #1! 


Casiotone For the Painfully Alone “Etiquette” (Tomlab) I 
have to be a lot painfullier alone than I am now to like this. 


Castles in Spain “Again” (castlesinspain.com) Hassles in 
Pain. 


Caterpillar Tracks (Phratry) Super good guitar rock that 
sounds pre-Post-Punk, and that pounds as heavy as Silkworm, 
with Fugazi-like guitars that manage to swirl and be angular 
at the same time. All this, plus singing that is just some 
serious bar rock howling. This Caterpillar’s tracks are all over 
my ass, after he kicked it! 


Catfish Haven “Tell Me” (Secretly Canadian 1499 West 
Second Street Bloomington IN 47403) Catfish makes my 
nature rise. “Tell Me” makes my heart break. 


Bob Catley “Spirit of Man” (Locomotive) Nobody likes 
music that sounds like this anymore. So you've got balls 
sticking with it, Bob. 


Cats & Jammers “wholelottagoddamn” (Scotch Hell 1573 
N. Milwaukee PMB #499 Chicago IL 60622) Too absurd to 
be pop, too nerdy to be punk, this is what pop punk should be 
—a super fun mess! 


Cattle Decapitation “Karma Bloody Karma” (Metal Blade) 
First Metal Blade gives me Cannibal Corpse whose name 
suggests | should eat human flesh, then they unleash a brutal 
vegetarian advocacy grind/gore/death band? Oh wait, Cattle 
Decapitation actually advocates eating humans, | forgot, 1 
forgot because this amazing album, by far the most brutal and 
fully (sorry) fleshed out in the band’s decade long history, 
frightened, flagellated and filleted me. This is extreme metal 
at its apex and I actually refuse to eat animals for 24 hours 
after each listen, and I haven't had a burger in the week since 
I got this. 


Charly Cazalet “rough mix nyc” (Cazalet Music 1562 First 
Avenue #213 NY NY 10028) Cazalet played in bands in the 
60s and 70s, and recorded most of these songs. which dance 
around power pop, around 1978 with members of the Left 
Banke. It would be a stretch to call these lost pop 
masterpieces, but there's some nice songwriting, some 
timeless hooks and some decent production here, so fans of 
70s pop might want to give this a pop. 


Celtador “Enter Deception” (Metal Blade) Sobrutally fast it 
gave me thrashlash. 


The Cemeterians by Gilgrim comic (SLG, slavelabor.com) 
Why do all current goth comics artists draw like they're 14 
years old? 


Centro-Matic “Fort Recovery” (Misra 1405 Broadmoor Dr. 
Austin TX 78723) Centro-Magic! 


Cex “Actual Fucking” (Automation, automationrecords.com) 
T actually fucked the CD. They should really make those holes 
bigger, I had to go to the emergency room. 


Sean Chambers “Humble Spirits” (Rockview) Profoundly 
bluesy. 


Channels “Waiting For the Next End of the World” 
(Dischord) Dischord records are thought to have a rigidity to 
the music (or at least the execution of such music). But this 
band, while tight, seems to be about musically bending and 
expanding and contracting and twisting to fit around, into, and 
behind weird, wild and wonderful ideas. Don’t change the 
Channels! 


Charette’s Eye View zine (POB 9833 Fall River, MA 02720) 
Hilarious comics! 


Charlie Hunter Trio “Copperopolis” (ropeadope. village 
station pob 1021 NYC, 10014) I don’t know from jazz enough 
to know if this is the jazzy equivalent to jamband music, but if 
it is so be it, as I've had this spinning for an hour or so and my 
life‘has been more pleasant than usual. The grooves here may 
not be too challenging, but they sure do actually groove. 


Charo “Cuchi-Cuchi” (Koch) Though thought of as a kitchy 
joke, Charo is actually a gifted musician, a Flamenco guitar 
master, and was very close to Xavier Cugat (if you know what 
1 mean). That said, her Salsoul disco album was not very 





good. The reissue includes her hit X-mas tune “Mamacita 
Donde Esta Santa Claus,” which makes this almost worth 
getting, but not quite. 


The Checkers “Running With Scissors” (Teenacide) Really 
good singing and actual grooves and hooks make this punky 
pop near perfect. The best song is a tribute to the late Bass 
Wolf of Guitar Wolf, whicl actually has some killer bass 
playing. 


Cheem (cheemmusic.com) Sexy felinelectronica that mademe 
meow and meOWWW! 


Cherubs “Uncovered By The Heartbeat” (Cargo) Cherubs 
made me cheer up with as good a cut of dancey post punk as 
you'll slice form the massive side of dancey post punk beef 
hanging on the current music scene slab. 


The Chinch Bugs “unglued” (mpls Itd, mplsitd.com, 3820 
12 Ave S. Minneapolis MN 55407) Had me bugging out! 
The best Midwestern keyboard/oboe pop CD of the year! 


Chingaleros “Release the Apes” (Beat Generation) This 
pummeling, savage, rocking rock is so fun and so macho that 
it made my testosterone malfunction, and I now have ear hair. 


Chrash “Audio Feng Shui” (futureappletre, 
futureappletree.com POB 191 Davenport [A 52805) Chrap. 


Chrome Pistola “Information War (chromepistola.com) The 
best balance of rock of hip hop I've heard in ages. Not boring 
backpacker underground rap and not close to Nu-metal rap- 
rock, this maintains the lyrical integrity of rap while 
conveying the power and menace of rock. 


The Church “uninvited, like the clouds” (Cooking Vinyl 
POB 246 Huntington NY 11743) Spacey hypnotizing music 
from these Aussie vets that feels oddly comforting and 
soothing despite a solid undercoat of weirdness. 


Cinematics “Break” b/w “Alright” (TVT) This rocks and 
thrills and chills with a revival of the Old Order of Joy 
Division. 





Cinemechanica “the martial arts” (hellosirrecords.com) 
Futuristic kung fu music that algebraically reinvents rock n 
roll. 


Cities (Yep Roc) Sweet indie rock with a wicked streak. 


Clearviewkills “wrap this around your neck” (cvk) Arrghh- 
core! 


Clark “Two of a Kind” (Locomotive) C’mon , you can sing 
better than that, man 


Clifton “we never change” (Abacus)I’m not sure what he’s 
singing, but I bet it’s evil! 


Clit 45 “2,4,6,8...” (B Y O, POB 67609 LA, CA 90067) This 
made me skateboard and take speed! And subsequently, take a 
lot of ibuprofen and bed rest. 


Coach Fingers “No Flies on Frank” (Locust POB 220426 
Chicago, IL 60622) I've never heard an art boogie band 
before! I hope that all the bands sound like this in the future. 


Coachwhips “Double Death” (Narnack 381 Broadway afl 
NYC 10013) The CD of hits and cover songs argues for this 
band being the most explosive post-Garage apocalypse punk 
superstars ever. The 2” disc is a DVD features the band’s 
ridiculously potent live powers at as full blast as mortal 
camcorders can capture. 


Collect’d Shit by J$n Shithead (UFA.Typepad.com) Comics, 
flyers, sketches and masterpieces by Roctober contributor 


93 


$hithead who apparently loves Reggae, drugs, beer, , ducks, 
and comix, and somehow is not a boring, stoned, drunk, 
duckfucking doodler. I can’t stand those guys! Awesome hand 
screend covers make this a treasure that will fill your head 
withe dreams and shit. 


Colour Revolt (Esperanza Plantation) I am colour blind, but 
this made me wishl was colour deaf. 


The Come n’ Go (Voodoo Rhythm voodoorhythm.com) As 
good as then Rolling Stones. 


Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson (Paramount) 
Wow. Grotesquely ugly comedians who continuously denote 
depression about their stalled careers brutally attack the by- 
comparison -ess-grotesque-than-normal Anderson and some 
of them are pretty funny. Making the entire thing more surreal 
is a crumbling Courtney Love sitting centerstage and allowing 
cameras to document a car crash-compelling combo of “look 
at me, look at me” and a human implosion that should be 
hidden from public view. And she does stand up. Most of the 
roasters roasts are edited, some down to just a line or two, and 
the DVD should have included full roasts as bonus instead of 
boring red carpet interviews. 


The Comfies “Close to Me” (Livewire, 
livewirerecordings.com) Harmony-rich Beach Boys via Kinks 
pop that made me so excited I actually didn’t have to pay my 
com fee this week. 


John Common “Good To Be Born” (Free School 
freeschoolrecords.com) Americana with pretentions delivered 
with a vocal that borders on fake English accent. 


Como Se Forma Una Rumba DVD (MVD) The performance 
footage and the descriptions of traditional sorta secret ritual 
included in this Afro-Cuban music documentary are valuable, 
but the filmmaking is strictly scholarly documentation and 
never matches the spirit of the music. 


Complete Control/Krum Bums split CD (TKO 8941 Atlanta 
Ave #505 Huntington Beach, CA 92646) Two killer Texas 
pun acts share CD space and the pit in my CD player can 
hardly take it. The chanting, stomping Complete Control 
made me buy some braces and boots and Krum Bums 
accelerate Discharge power to thrash speeds sowell it made 
me twitch. This will crush you. 


Conner “Hello Graphic Missle” (Sonic Boom) No conning, 
you'll have conniptions over Conner’s conjurings! Two 
listens top this and you will sing along while strutting. 


Chris Connelly "Lounge Ax, Bottle, Elsewhere-'94/'01" (self- 
released) My very brief flirtation with Industrial music ended 
some 20 years ago. I liked early Throbbing Gristle, if, for no 
other reason, they annoyed the hell out of people (my friend, 
Shawn, who worked at a biker bar, played ‘em when the tips 
weren't forthcoming, and lived), and proved, maybe moreso 
than Punk, that anyone could play music if they have a mind 
to. That said, I'd like to go on record as saying that while I 
never really got into the whole Wax Trax thing (loved the 
store, mind you), Chris Connelly is one of the most pleasant 
people I've known in Chicago, within or outside of the music 
scene. While better known for his involvement with the likes 
of Ministry, Revolting Cocks, and Pigface, Connelly also has 
an acoustic solo act that's a million miles removed from the 
aforementioned groups. On first inspection, and, pretty much 
throughout, one is reminded of David Bowie, but pre-"Ziggy 
Stardust" Bowie, when he and Marc Bolan were still checking 
each other out, wondering who would declare themselves, uh, 
“flexible,” to the media first, and who would beat the other in 
eschewing the folkie acoustic ballads in favor of Hard Rock 
and megastardom. Though these sideman-free recordings 
wouldn't be tainted by the presence of Mick Ronson's 
spiritual successor (ah, but, does that person exist?), the songs 
stand on their own, without “Faerie Dust" or embellishments 
from Rock musicians. Connolly IS a great fan of the Glam 
era, but to do something evocative of Bowie or Bolan in their 
acoustic stage is the less traveled path, one he travels with 
relish, zeal, and the not-all knowing sense of possibilities. He 
follows his own muse, if it should remind you of someone 
else, it still comes out his own way. Besides, Bowie, ever the 
copyist,would do well to listen to this, himself. 


The Continental zine ($6, POB 4336 Bellingham WA 98227- 
4336) Thank god someone still loves surf music! One of my 
favorite magazines, and it features a killer CD insert. 


Control_Z “System Failure” (Sonic Sword) Z-grade. 


Conveniens (Conveniens Records POB 66461 AMF O'Hare 
IL 60666) Smooth jazz meets free jazz. 


Corporate Ninja! comix by Matt Mocarski (Slave Labor 
Graphics POB 26427 San Jose, CA 95159-6427) Surprisingly 
relatively entertaining considering how un-biting this parody 
of marketing culture is, and considering that this climaxes in 
(spoiler alert) the supposed comedy of a huge Ninja man 
punching a woman and decapitating a three year old. 


Chris Cordero “Why Can't God Cure This Baby?” 
(Remember Artists) Chris plays both kinds of music: pop and 
rock! And he can actually rock. And he pops pretty good too. 


Nikki Corvette and the Stingrays “Back to Detroit” (Dollar 
Record Records, dollarrecord.com) A legend for her late 
7Os/early 80s work (the Nikki and the Corvettes Bomp LP 
was a girl punk prototype), Nikki amazingly sounds as young, 
powerful, excited, and dynamic as she did in 1980, and her 
band here actually sounds better. This isn’t some sorry 
comeback, or water-treading semi-retiree, this is a genuinely 
great poppy trashpunk album that does justice to Nikki’s 
Detroit roots. 


Cosmopolitans “Wild Moose Party” (Dionysus) This is crazy 
good. A late 70s new wave art project gone right this was a 
band that you may remember for turning a 1950s text “(How 
to Keep Your) Husband Happy” into a hip jam that was either 
an ironic feminist statement, or wasn’t. This brief but brilliant 
CD collects all their studio songs (all 9) of this cheerleader- 
garbed group, plus a couple of live tracks, including a Shangri 
La cover that is so gloriously half-assed you understand that 
gimmick bands may be more gimmick than band, but they are 
still more fun than band bands. 


Coste Apetrea “Trickster” (lionmusic.com) This just sounds 
wrong. 


Josie Cotton “Movie Disaster Music” (Scruffy, 
josiecotton.com) Cotton is King! Or, Queen I guess. What I’m 
trying to say is that she’s really good, and her songwriting, 
phrasing and charisma are killer. Best known for a novelty 
song so long ago that it’s almost forgotten, Cotton has 
achance to start fresh, and this collection of rich, seasoned, 
American music is a great place to meet her for the first time. 
Plus, anything with Geza X production makes me happy. 


Cougars “Pillow Talk” (Go Kart) Lotsa guitars and lotsa 
horns have a rock n roll auto accident and then an ambulance 
with a synth for a siren helps get them all back together. This 
cougar is a lot more grrr than coo. 


Coulier “Vibin"” (Stickfigure) Ridiculous noise followed b, 
rambunetious rifface peppered with romantic rumblings 


Count Dante and the Black Dragon Fighting Society “Fat 
Power” (Hofbrau Dojo POB 1701 Pacifica CA 94044) Count 
Dante II (all fans of 70s comic books will know who Count 
Dante | is...and will certainly appreciate the stunning cover 
art) is a gentleman who knows some funny. The dynamic 
wrestling, seminar conducting, kung fu fighting, premature 
ejaculating rock n roll genius brings some action packed 
music to these plastic CD “grooves.” There are those who will 
act as if “novelty” music is somehow a lower art form. Well, 
Axl Rose, Keith Urban and Brooke Hogan are more 
ridiculous than Dante, so maybe it’s time to Count the Dr. 
Dementites into the so called “mainstream.” 


Wayne County “At the Trucks” (Munster) This is a live 
performance of County's theatrical 1974 stage show, and even 
without the sets and costume changes this is a thrilling, seedy, 
absurdist explosion that demonstrates that this transgendered 
troubadour understood rock ‘n’ roll better than a big bow] of 
Bowies. Rounded out with some important studio recordings 
this is in many ways the ultimate County album, maybe the 
record that best sums up her power and potential 


The Court and Sparks “Hearts” (Absolutely Kosher 1412 
10" St. Berkely CA 94710) Soft Rock meets the hard 
textbooks these cats undoubtedly studied as Mythology 
majors at some fancy college. 


Cracker “Greenland,” “Greatest Hits Redux” (Cooking Vinyl 
pob 246 Huntington, NY 11743) I guess it would be funnier 
and more subversive and clever that Cracker re-recorded and 
teleased their hits to foil their estranged major label that was 
about to release an inferior greatest hits package /F I wanted 


to hear any Cracker songs again. Their new album is passable 
Americana but without the oomph. 


Crackjaw “giants from the stereo” (I Scream) Sensitive, but 
not emo-tive, hardcore that is more likely to massage your jaw 
than crack it. But wouldn’t you prefer that? 


Cradle of Filth “Thornography” (Roadrunner) Cradle of 
Yawns. 


Creatures of the Golden Dawn “An Incident at Owl Creek 
Bridge” (Get hip POB 666 Canonsburg PA 15317) This 
garage band is so 60s that when they buy comic books it only 
costs them 12 cents and when they buy candy bars it’s a 
nickel. Lotsa great 60s style songs, plus an amazing Red 
Krayola cover that’s more garage than the original. 


Criss Angel Mindfreak soundtrack (Koch) This music’ will 
freak your mind, man! If you find mediocrity freaky. I 
wouldn't be doing the musicians on this CD any favors by 
listing them and giving my opinion, so I'll defer from doing 
so. 


Crush Kill Destroy “Metric Midnight” (No Karma 169 E. 
Montana St. Milwaukee WI 53207) | hated math in high 
school, so I appreciate that this math rock back seems to want 
to destroy arithmetic, calculus, geometry, addition, division, 
subtraction, and possibly multiplication. 


Cry Blood Apache “Performing Diversion Acrobatics” 
(Ghetto Pagoda, listen.to/crybloodapache.com) As someone 
who is one thirty-second Apache, not only am I not offended 
by this primitively forward-looking, analog-tronic, minimalist 
robot blues band, I actually cried tears of (partial) Apache joy 
that they honored a 32™ of me with this music. 


“Cry of Atlantis - The North Country Scene *58-’67 Vol 
2” (Bacchus/Dionysus POB 1975 Burbank CA 91507) A 
survey of unjustly obscure East Coast teenage rockers, who 
made everything from raw rockabilly to psychedelic garage 
rock. This release has amazing design (a comic book theme, 
features amazing music you've never heard, and has some 
amazing band names (The Kon-Taks) and better song titles 
(“The Octopus Song”). 





CSS “Cansei De Ser Sexy”(Suo op) If I ever tell you that I 
don’t want to hear naughty Brazilian girls play magnificent, 
drunken futuristic dance rock than please euthanize me. 


Cult of Sue Todd “Kelsey Grammer Loves Us” 
(cultofsuetodd.com) I'm with Kelsey! 


The Cuts “From Here On Out” (Birdman, POB 50777 LA, 
CA 90041) As good as the Monkees! Or the Sweet! Cut out 
for greatness (and not cut out to become a cutout). 


The Czars “Goodbye” (Bella Union) Cheer up, dude! 


Dagger magazine (POB 820102 Portland OR 97282) A recent 
issue of this zine opens with an apology for the boring layout, 
so I'll give it a pass on that, expecially because it contained 
the only interesting tour diary I ever read (one man band Slow 
Poisoner books tours based on venues with the weirdest 
names and is rewarded by playing cotton mills and biker 
bars). Decent band interviews (Thurston, Jad, Thalia Zedek, 
the Bats, and more) and a zillion record reviews round out the 
recent issues. 


The Dagons “Reverse” (Blow the Fuse/Dead Sea Captain 
4470 Sunset Blvd #163 LA, CA 90027) They have the 
Dagoods! Spare yet big sounding rock with vocals that border 
on sea shanty/mermaid singing. Rocks like geology! 


D’amato “Synesthesia” (damatomusic.com) Dam'awful. 


94 


Darkbuster “A Weakness For Spirits” (iscream) Any band 
that opens with’ a theme song ‘We are Darkbuster, we don’t 
monkey around...we came to play your town...”) is tops in 
my book. The cover art suggests that this is aimed towards 
skateboarders (lots of skate bands and skate companies and 
thrasher stickers are slapped on a guitar) but it seems like they 
should be marketing more towards suspenders and old man 
hat companies, as this should appeal to thee Guinness tipping 
boot wearing contingent. 


Dark Skies (Empty POB 12301 Portland OR 97212) Actual 
rock music that attains heaviness without sludging, drudging 
or faking it. This channels Blue Cheer, MCS, and even a little 
Grand Funk, yet doesn’t sound retro at all. Darken my CD 
player anytime! 


Dark Water Transit “Dawn of the Goblin” (Let ‘em 
Talk/Morphius) This tribute to Goblin’s greatest non-Argento 
soundtrack brings actual zombies, some game show music 
arrangements, staccato drumming, whistling weirdness, and 
dense production to their conceptual cover album of the 
“Dawn of the Dead” soundtrack. 


Darling New Neighbors (darlingnewneighbors.com) Boldly 
low key everything music that makes you want to marry 
everyone in the band. 


Darlington “Sex” (Fastmusic POB 206512 New Haven, CT 
06520) Mad eme want to have sex with the CD. Forget 3" 
Wave Ska, it’s all about 4" Wave Ramones! 


Dave Attell’s Insomniac Tour Uncensored! DVD (Comedy 
Central) The white version of Kings of Comedy is pretty 
funny all around, with Attell, Greg Giraldo, and the sharp 
Sean Rouse getting some solid larfs, This, of course, is 
probably the last not-high-profile cable appearance of Dane 
Cook, who has become the comedy superstar since this was 
taped. While many knock Cook, his performance here is 
pretty solid. What I admire about him is that he seems to be 
an incredibly hard working stand up comic. You can tell that 
he has labored intensely to make his act as good as it can be. 
And that’s the interesting thing about him: seeing him do this 
stand up, or listening to his CDs, is to experience a guy who 
may not be super funny, but is definitely as funny as he can 
possibly ever be. That's how far he’s pushed himself, and it's 
interesting to see that intensity. It doesn’t seem like he does 
(or can) translate this to Saturday Nighi Live, a talk show 
couch, a movie, or a terrible cable miniseries, but here he is 
doing his thing. 


David and the Citizens “Until the Sadness is Gone” 
(Friendly Fire) Scandinavian country-rock, klezmer, new 
wave, reggae, James Taylor-core, pop rock. But rarely all 
those things on the same track. Except they are Scandinavian 
on every track. 


Betty Davis “This Is It!" (Vampi, vampisoul.com) I've 
always been a Davis worshipper — if surviving a marriage to 
crazy Miles Davis doesn’t earn you enough super-points, 
dressing like a funk Barbarella puts you over, I always 
figured. Usually a compilation by a fave artist will make you 
love them more, but this disc (which boils her three LPs into 
one CD) did the opposite. Maybe I've always been 
hypnotized by the fancy die cut LP covers, or the covetednéss 
of these rare, underappreciated albums, but hearing them in 
this format makes the actual music sound like the 
underwhelming white guy simulation of funk, and Betty's 
growling, wild, scary, sci fi vocals seem much more 
mannered and contrived than the aggressive, futuristic 
superwoman I've always considered her to be. yaybe some 
soul got remastered out of this, but amazingly I’m going to 
have to un-recommend an artist I've always advocated and 


worshipped. 


Dawn of Azazel “Sedition” (Ibex Moon) Brutal raging metal 
that strains to release from your speakers to strangle you. 


Days Off “The Jamming in the Scene ep” (Make or break, 
makeorbreakrecords.com) Post punk rarely actually grooves 
but this not only actually fgrooves, it’s actually groovy! 


DC Snipers “Missile Sunset” (Dead Beat POB 283 LA, CA 
90078) Regular punk meets art punk meets garage punk. and 
all those punks have a punk fight 


DDR (Slusaj Najglasnije! Teskovec 27¢ 10090, Zagreb 
Croatia) Does Damn Rock! 











Dead Brothers “Wunderkammer” (Voodoo Rhythm) Fuck 
old time music that sounds like hillbillies...this is old time 
music that sounds like a tuba-haunted, Victrola-cranking 
hashish fever dream! 


Dead Heart Bloom (Kei) Blooming brilliant! 


The Dead Hooker’s Bridge Club “The Hoo Dee Hoo” ep 
(New Art School newartschool.net) Drunk, punk and smelling 
like skunk, this awesome band is Crampsy and made me 
damp-sy 


Dead Man (Crusher crusherrecords.com) So seventies that 
when I tured on the TV after listeneng to this “Happy Days” 
was on and it was interrupted by a Jimmy Carter press 
conference. 

Dead Moon “Echoes of the Past” (Sub Pop) It's difficult to 
begin to praise this CD collection as Dead Moon's very 
existence is basically a justification for rock ‘n’ roll to exist. 
They are possibly the most important gigging band on earth. 
They are the gods of rock masquerading as humans, and they 
are the most human rockers in rock. This collects the best 
tracks from the nearly twenty year, baker's dozen LP career of 
a band that makes music that from the start (songs off their 
first album are included) to the last song they played is so 
great and so pure and so energetic and so thrilling that it 
makes every thing that’s a pain in the ass and a bummer about 
going to shows, buying records and dealing with flaky 
musician friends seem worthwhile. If you have never heard 
this band buy this CD, if you have every album buy this CD 
and listen to it all day, and if you buy this and don't like it, 
become a CPA, (/ apologize to any rocking CPA's) 


Dead Next Door “Time To Fight" (Prison Records) Sweetly 
reminiscent of dreary 80s UK music while actually keeping 
things upbeat and dynamic. 


The Dead Science "Frost Giant" (Absolutely Kosher) This 
moody trio delivers gloomy pop undercut by a shambling free 
jazz feel that brings to mind experimental popsters such as 
Deerhoof or Blonde Redhead. Sam Mickens' singing tends 
toward gothic high drama, alternating between a breathy 
conversational tone and sweeping croons. This might sound 
overwrought but a great drummer, some small surprises and a 
refreshing sincerity help make this work. 


Dead To Me “Cuban Ballerina” (Fat, fatwreck.com) Pop 
punk that sounds like a band sounding like a band that sounds 
like a band imitating the Ramones is dead...this band is 
reviving Buzzcocks, SLF and maybe a little bit of Elvis 
Costello, and (note this Oi-revivalists) is doing it without fake 
English accents! This is Alive to Moi! 


“Death By Salt I; A SLUG Magazine Compilation” (Slug 
351 W. Pierpont Ave. ste 4B SLC UT 84101)The amazing 
packaging on this comp houses 2 CDs of way cool Salt Lake 
City bands that prove, by band names alone, that Utah is up to 
speed on musical trends. You have a “Dead” band 
(Deadbeats), you have a wolf band (sublimely named The 
Wolfs), you have a sentence band (“I am Electric”), and even 
a bat band name (Purr Bats). It's not just Osmonds anymore! 
Though they are still around. 


The Death Set “TO” (Rabbit foot/VLXO/Morphius) 
Distorted, disturbed, disco-rific, dance punk that made me 
thrash with anger and thrish with joy 


Death Ships “Seeds of Devastation” Faithful Anchor 937 1/2 
E. Jefferson St. lowa City, IA 52245) If you think Country 
rock is for the Byrds, than listen to this ultra-lovely album of 
indie-country-pop. These tunes are beautiful, heart-breaking 
tunes with a sprinkle of lap-steel and a dash of sadness 


Desmond Dekker “...in memoriam 1941-2006" (Secret) No 
one deserves more tribute than the “King of Ska." Between 
1963 and 1970 the charismatic Desmond Dekker recorded 
dozens of sublime singles with Jamaican super-producer 
Leslie Kong. After becoming a top act in Jamaica, he broke 
ground in 1967 when his rocksteady classic “O07 
(Shantytown)” became a hit in the U.K, followed two years 
later by the haunting “Israelites” a number one British hit and 
a US top ten single. Dekker relocated to London, but his 
promising recording career was derailed when Kong 
unexpectedly died in 1971. After that he recorded sporadically 
until his death last year, often revisiting his greatest hits, as he 
did in 2004 in what is described on this as “his last 
recordings.” While this CD features long, quality liner notes, 
it fails to explain why exactly he recorded this many sound- 
alike cover versions of his songs, and why exactly we should 


buy tyhis and not the originals. That said, it’s impressive to 
sound as good in. your 60s as you did in your 20s, and I 
actually listend to this CD over and over and loved it. 


Demented Are Go “Hellbilly Storm” (Hepcat POB 1108 
Orange CA 92856) Psychobilly pioneers keep up the gore and 
good times, and a quarter century of howling has Sparky 
sounding like Lemmy with a cold. This band is an original not 
just because nobody else would wear monster makeup at this 
juncture, but because pub rock and boogie were never 
elements of the Cramps. 


Demolition Doll Rods “there is a difference” (Swami) | am 
still baffled as to why this band is not as famous as U2. The 
best blues punk pure rock n roll on earth, they redefine 
concepts like “talent,” “morals,” and “shame.” | guess this is 
with their new drummer, which may hurt them live (their old 
pounder was a concert powerhouse) but rhythmically makes 
them a lot more solid. Every time they release a new record I 
have a new favorite record, 


The Denizens “Danger in Disneyland,” The Ramrods 
"Gimme Some Action" (Young Soul Rebels) The Golden Age 
of Detroit R ‘n' R was basically over by the mid-70s, what 
with Bob Seger forsaking the kickass for the slickass, Wayne 
Kramer and Michael Davis both doing time, Mitch Ryder still 
rockin’ hard on stage, but alienating fans with a "Coming Out” 
LP, Funkadelic forsaking Acid Rock and getting (not Just) 
Knee Deep in Cocaine and near-Disco beats, and the 
remaining Stooges/MCS contingent splitting into small tribes 
- The L.A.-based New Order, Destroy All Monsters, Sonics 
Rendezvous Band, and Rob Tyner's underrated "New MCS,” 
all of whom released good material, though some, only 
posthumously. By the time Punk hit a few years later, Iggy 
was trying to reclaim his turf, fronting an impressive, tho’ less 
offensive, Rock band featuring David Bowie and Soupy Sales’ 
sons. Unless you were in Detroit at the time, or can raise your 
right hand and declare your collector status with pride, names 
like Cinecyde, The Mutants, Coldcock, The Sillies, or even 
The N*ggers, might have escaped your radar, but, take heed, 
the Detroit Punk scene (which remained in the shadows of 
NYC, despite the presence of Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith, and 
even Johnny Thunders) is slowly being documented by the 
good folks at Young Soul Rebel (no Ken Wong connection) 
and other, dedicated (some would say "insane") labels. The 
Denizens, like so many others, slugged it out on the club 
circuit, but, even today, they're probably only, known outside 
of Detroit, by "Killed By Death”- type punk rock collectors. 
That's all right, though, cos if this is what you want, this is 
what you'll get! The "A" side of this three-track EP begins 
with a flurry of guitars, a nearly psychedelic cacophony, 
similar to the legendary AK47 single (hi, out there, all you 
"Killed By Death" fans!), While the vocals are loud n’ snotty, 
there's an actual MELODY that you won't be able to get out 
of your head, even after you've picked the guitar shrapnel out 
of your cranium, plus some really choice harmony vocals that 
bring to mind the irresistible Pop hooks of The Dickies (and, 
not specifically, because they, too, later wrote a song likening 
Disneyland to a Death Camp. Rock n"' Roll legends from The 
Yardbirds to The Cramps have gone from being denied 
entrance, to headlining, at The Frozen One's domain). A-side, 
A- Plus! "I Know You Hate Me" (recorded live in a dive) 
contains some powerful axework that evokes James 
Williamson ("James Williamson isn’t just in the bottom five, 
he IS the bottom five"-Ted Nugent, 1974. "How cool is 
that?"-Waymon, 2006). "It's Gotta Be Her,” following the 
latter without so much as a "!-2-3-4!,” includes some heavy 
fuzz and phase guitar with an almost Avant-Rock lead guitar 
attack that dares to be strange, but never excessive (or X- 
Cessive, as you "Seasoned" Punk Rockers would say). Sounds 
like these guys were a hot live band in their day, and, who's to 
say their day is past and gone? Their buddies, The Ramrods, 
are up and running again, doing select dates with Danny 
Dollrod on bass, filling out an otherwise original lineup. 
Danny, however, has had to bow out after a few gigs. I 
probably shouldn't tell you who his reputed replacement is, 
except that he produced the strongest return to form LP /CD 
of the past year... The word "Cock" was censored on network 
TV when the band in question played the opening cut live in 
Detroit. Compute it, baby. Much like The Denizens' B-side, 
The Ramrods are presented here in all their stoopidious glory, 
live, with a brain-freakin' medley of "Helter Skelter" (not only 
Manson's theme song, "Used Without Permission,” but the 
closest thing to a Proto-Punk toon The Beatles ever 
conceived), "My Generation,” "Search and Destroy,” and 
Their signature song, “I'm a Ramrod,” which drummer, Bob 
"Bootsey X" Mulrooney, later sang with Ron Asheton's Dark 
Carnival. "My Generation" has some hilarious verbal y-v- 
variations: "| wanna kill The President, Lois Lane and Clark 


95 





Kent! Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, FUCK ALL THOSE OLD 
FUCKS!!,” and, of course, "Why don't you all f-f-f-fill in the 
blank."). But, there's also some strong originals, performed 
live and in the studio (about half and half), The Ramrods 
upheld the Detroit Hi-Energy thang, matching screamin’ 
guitars with burly n’, surly vocals and drums that sound like a 
latter day Carrie Nation taking a sledge hammer to the local 
party store (a tragedy worthy of at least two days off from 
work in The Motor City). The studio stuff reminds me of a 
dirtier Sonics Rendezvous Band, or an early Radio Birdman 
with a sense of humor (which are both about the same thing), 
but, it's their thang, and they do what they wanna do, just as 
their Detroit Dads did in the first place. Whether the Denizens 
and The Ramrods ate, slept, breathed, fucked, got high or 
hung out at the Dairy Queen together isn’t the point. The 
point is, the world is yours.Go wild! "You had to take your 
stand, Ours was, “Kick Out The Jams, Motherfucker.” You 
could go to San Francisco with flowers in your hair, or, you 
could be digging "Raw Power" by Iggy and The Stooges"- 
Rob Tyner, 1988. 


destination: oblivion (destinationoblivion.net POB 5664) 
Portland OR 97238-6641) Gothdustrial goodies that bring out 
the intense and angsty robot in me, 


The Destroyed “Russian Roulette” (bertswitzer,com, 12 
Summer St. Somerville MA 02143) Normally you hate to 
hear a contemporary CD from a reformed 60s or 70s punk 
band because you know whatever was wild or fucked up 
about the teenagers is going to be gone, and slick modern 
instruments, ProTools and bar band crap will take over. Not 
the case here. This is just a spare recording of a drummer.and 
guitarist, and it couldn’t sound more direct, or rawer, or more 
gloriously fucked up, or more vitally important. Original 
Destroyed members Bert Switzer (whose wild, stumbling, 
rumbling, jazz/noise drumming is amazing) and J.D. Jackson 
(whose intense, primal guitar playing is only surpassed by his 
mad, magical singing) keep the Destruction contemporary, 
and this is genuinely one of the craziest records of the year. 


Destruction Unit “Death to the Old Flesh” (Empty POBox 
12301 Portland OR 97212) Other than declaring this the 
mightiest, most devastating, nastiest, spookiest rock ‘n’ roll 
album ever made I’m not sure what I can about “Death to the 
old Flesh.” Oh, yeah, nice Grace Jones nod. 


Devotchke “Curse Your Little Heart” (Ace Fu pob 552 NYC 
10009) A covers EP by a genuine genius group that combines 
smoky lounge vibes with Latin/Gypsy/Middle 
Eastern/Everything influences. Sinatra, Lou Reed and 
Siouxsie would be proud if they were all alive, which they 
sort of all are and sort of all aren't. 


“The DFA Remixes Chapter One,” “The DFA Remixes 
Chapter Two,” (DFA/Astralwerks) No need to search out the 
famed DFA remixes by your fave indie and major label bands 
as they are all here and all futuristically old school dance 
rock-y, 


Alela Diane “The Pirate’s Gospel” (Holocene) Alaela is a- 
lovely, both musicially and in the looks department. There's 
lotse new singer-songwriters whose hauntingnes puts them 
within vibrations of the freak-folk flag wavers, but few have 
such a stunning voice, and none can whistle this well, 


Die Monitr Batsss/Les Georges Leningrad split 7” (SRC, 
Sre.com) These two bands destroy music. Music is now 
destroyed. Thank god. 


Digital Leather “Monologue” (Empty pob 12301 Portland 
OR 97212) One man band powerhouse Sean Foree's low key 
but high drama pre/post-Goth synthtronic punk band will 
make you fear again! ‘ 


Dillinger Girl & “Baby Face” Nelson “Bang!” (Universal 
Jazz France) A French male-female pop duo invoking 
American gangsters of course brings to mind 
Gainsbourg/Bardot as Bonnie and Clyde, which is too much 
to live up to. But this Franco-duo does OK in light of such 
impossible expectations. Dillinger Girl is actually an 
impressively sexy chanteuse whose phrasing and delivery 
revive some of the best moments in French pop history. Mr. 
Nelson has a harder job stepping into Serge’s shoes, and 
because he actually sings in several different voices he rarely 
gets in the same ballpark (or futbol stadium | should say), but 
at times he is quite impressive. It would be an honor to be 
robbed by these outlaws. 


Dirty on Purpose “Hallelujah Sirens” (North Street, 
northstreetrecords.net) Should be called Dirty Ol" Porpoise, 
because the singer sounds like a dolphin. 


The Dirty Royals “Obsessed America” (thedirtyroyals.com) 
Gave me a royal pain in the ass - from making me shake it so 
much to these toe tapping Kinks/Buzzcocks-inspired rocksers. 


Distance to Empty “Relaxcitement” (distancetoempty.com) 
Distemper to Empty my stomache. 


Dolltopia comix, night club comix by Abby Denson (POBox 
22477 Brooklyn NY 11202-2477) Denson two raw 
minicomix-style stories (with slick covers) are similar but 
worlds apart. night club is a slice of urban artschool punky 
fantasy that is pleasant, but for the most part has such dry, 
obvious dialogue that it seems like the cute protagonists are in 
porno movie, only no action ever breaks out. But Dolltopia, 
about rebel, rengade Barbies and G.1. Joes creating their own 
wonderful, d.i.y., super cool society has similar dialogue and 
flat characters but because of the doll theme it seems like 
extremely clever writing and it really works. Highly 
recommended, 


Doctor Sparkles “Sail Away” (doctorsparkles.com, 801 
Volvo Parkway suite 109-144 Chesapeake VA 23320) The 
uke-kook is the wholesome Ian Whitcombe, strumming his 
old time ukulele music as if the last ninety years or so never 
happenced. Except he’s dressed like a Dr. Seuss character, so 
now we're back to forty years. And his reggae- 
themed/Chipmunks-backed up Christmas song brings him 
within thirty years, I take it back — this super-fun strummer is 
practically from the future! 


Doris zine (Microcosm) The zine-iest zine in zinedom! 


Ray Dorset a.k.a. Mungo Jerry Blues Band “Adults Only" 
(Easyplay/Germany) | saw something in Maximum Rock ‘n’ 
Roll recently that said "Mungo Jerry sucks, any way you look 
at it” OKAY, never mind that M.J. was one of the most 
versatile and talented British bands of the seventies, and that 
if most hardcore never sucked, then, me and lan MacKaye 
were chowin' down on some double cheeseburgers and beers 
yesterday, and H.R. is living proof that marijuana mellows 
you out and makes you love your brother. Ray Dorset, still 
performing under the Mungo Jerry moniker today, lays down 
a hot, Blues-based set, backed by a German band that can turn 
milk into mule's piss, with Dorset's lusty vocals, still full of 
fire and gusto, at the fore. Dorset's Blues are closer to his 
former bandmate, Peter Green, in form and content than Eric 
Clapton, so, have no fear, this is no North Chicago shuck and 
jive. Even "Rock Me, Mama" (a variation of “Rock Me, 
Baby") never suffers from B.B. King disease. A kickin’ 
version of “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" honors 
John Lee Hooker without mimicking him. In a decidely non- 
Bluesey move, Dorset also tackles "Morning Dew,” a song 
that I've never heard anyone truly fuck up, mainly cos it takes 
so damned much chutzpah to even attempt it. Ray also turns 
in some strong originals like "We Gotta Get Out O' The Army 
." obviously a nod to the soldiers from his country, and ours, 
who've had their fill of the war in Iraq, and "I Just Can't Say 
Goodbye,” a real Blues stomper with some hot Elmore James 
licks (much like on the opener, Blind Willie McTell's 
"Statesbro’ Blues"), wailin' harmonica and Dorset hangin’ it in 
like Gunga Din. The real treat, however, is a recent live 
version of the Psychedelic/Glam Rock classic from Mungo 
Jerry's original catalog, “Open Up.” It might have a thin blue 
paintjob, but the feeling’s still the same. Okay, some people 
might say this sucks, and that's their right, just because it 
doesn’t sound like an adolescent temper tantrum set at 360 
BPM, and the lyrics don't make you want to slit your wrists, 
and...Oh, yeah, anti-Reagan and stuff... Eastplay Production 
GbR Werrestr.53-D-32049 Herford, Germany Bookings / 
info-www.mungojerry, com, or 
http://launch. groups.yahoo,com/group / MungoJerry 





Double Exposure “My Love Is Free - The Best of Double 
Exposure” (Koch) Double Exposure spent their career on 
Salsoul pretending they were on Philadelphia International, 
which is not a bad thing at all. There's one Bunny Sigler co- 
write on here, but not a note of Gamble/Huff-penned soul on 
these 11 tracks (plus a few 12” mixes), despite the amazing 
simulation on the title track. Had their disco/Latin label been 
able to.market soul music better the talents here might have 
done some real chart damage, but as it stood, there are some 
really solid sounds here, maybe not super-classics, but 
definitely worth grooving to. 


The Draft (United for Opportunity) Mixing big rock power, 
garage blues sounds, Dylan-phrasing and genuine outrage, 
this band delivers some refreshing, appropriately bitter brew 
that you'll be glad to have on draft. 


The Dragline Bros (Non-Prophet Records) Dragged me into 
twang rock paradise! 


Dre’ Pauls “Moody Grooves” (1507 E. 53" St. #445 Chicago 
IL 60615) Combining smooth jazz grooves with tasteful hip 
hop and mature r&b, Mr. Pauls really finds his own sound 
while boldly mixing genres. 


Dr. Frankenstein “Chapter Ill: The Dragon Lounge 
Connection” (Double Crown, dblcrown.com) Wicked surf 
that goofy foots its way into detective jazz creepiness. 


Driftless Pony Club “Cholera” (Sector Five POB 3374 
Madison WI 53704) Should be called Studly Horse-shlonged 
Quirk-rockers Club! 


The DT’s “Nice ‘n’ Ruff" (Get Hip) Janis-roars front this 
soul-played-with-rock-guitars band that delivers the goods 
dripping with the sauce and steaming from the heat and 
smelling of the stuff! 


Dub Trio “New Heavy” (ROIR POB SO! Prince Street 
Station NY, NY 10012) Eschewing the traditional post- 
production methods of making dub music this Brooklyn 
combo simulates the dj/soundsystem sounds with live 
instruments, then decides to make the whole thing sound way 
more rock ‘n’ roll, thus you get a genuine punky reggae party 
on every cut, and you can dance coo! and headbang 
simultaneously, 


Duenow “The Draft” (UFO) Do buy this now! 


The Duplex Planet (POB 1230 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866) 
I don’t know if it has to do with improvements in medication, 
or the fact that he seems to be gabbing with wealthier old 
folks with better health care options or better educations, but 
the elderly interview subjects David Greenberger has been 
talking to for a quarter century seem to be getting more lucid 
recently. And they talk about death a lot more. 


Dylan In The Movies “Feel The Pull” (TGRC) I would never 
go see these movies, 





The Eastpak Resistance Tour II DVD (| Scream) | may not 
be the biggest fan of contemporary hardcore, but seeing a 
DVD of fans going absolutely apeshit for mighty bands like 
Madball and Ignite is enough to convincing anyo old fart that 
punk can’t actually be dead if the kids care this much. 


Echo Helstrom “the veil” (echo 1631 NE Broadway #214 
Portland OR 97232) Echo Smellstrom 


echo is your love “humansize”™ (stickfigure/ifsociety) eclectic 
is your music, brilliant is your CD! 


The Elected “Sun, Sun, Sun” (sub pop) Slightly overcast. 


Electric Flesh by Claro (Soft Skull, 55 Washington St. ste. 
804 Brooklyn NY 11201) There’s writing and then there's 
great writing and then there’s super writing. This is the latter, 
an exhausting, confusing, magical mush of Houdini (sorta), 
Jck London (once removed), high voltage sex (literally) and 
dynamic violence. 

Eleventh Dream Day “zeroes and ones” (Thrill Jockey POB 
08038 Chicago IL 60608) So awesome they should change 
their name to Eleventh Wet Dream Day! 


Elf Power “Back to the Web" (Rykodise) Like the Keebler 
elves magical ovens that make wondrous cookies these 
Athenians apparently have an enchanted pop confectioners 
oven. 


The Embrooks “45 & High Times” (Munster) The most 
authentic and enjoyable modern Mod band is historicized with 


this collection of singles, radio appearances and covers (their 
Small Faces cover that ends the album is killer). Live I love 
this band, though the hobbit-like look of the modest (as in 
most mod, not self-effacing) member always distracts me 
from the perfection of their passionate 60s recreationism. 
Once again WFMU stands as a superhero radio zone for 
giving the mics to these geniuses for a few killer sets that 
make this multi-disc release a must have. 


Jack Endino “Permanent Fatal Error” (Wondertaker POB 
470153 SF, CA 94147) It’s hard to remember at this point, but 
in the late 80s when you would go see bands like the Melvins 
and the great Skin Yard at a club it would be a punk crowd at 
a punk club. We thought all this stuff fit in with what we liked 
until Pearl Jam made it painfully clear that we were wrong. 
Well after a long retreat behind the recording boards Skin 
Yard's Jack Endino is back with this record, and it is much 
clearer with perspective that 90s Northwest rock wasn’t punk, 
it was pre-punk. This is just good rock that resonates, attacks, 
and grooves (maybe ta bit oo much of the latter; what’s with 
all the slappy bass?). The Métérhead-esque opening track, 
“Count On Me,” is a declaration of rock majesty! By the way, 
I'm pretty sure | saw Skin Yard play with Boneyard in 
Providence around "89, but my memory is so damaged that to 
be honest, I can’t actually remember if there really was band 
named Boneyard. 


end of a year “Sincerely” (Revelation POB 5232 Huntington 
Beach, CA 92615) Being a sentence fragment this bandname 
doesn’t qualify as one fo the new wave of sentence names, but 
it’s as cookie-cutter a slab of early emo (not the pop punk 
fluff that’s around today, but the harder, more dynamic Rites 
stuff) as you'll hear. Which is OK if you like this stuff. 


Envie (enviemuisc.com) Not quite goth, but pretty dramatic 
and gothical nonetheless. This best compares with Dresden 
Dolls, though (slightly) less over-the-top. If you covet 
melodramatic play-acting vocal skills then you will envy 
Renee Nelson. 


epsilons (Reatard Disco pob 461163 LA, CA 90046) | 
EpsiLOVe is! This is what you imagined the best rock ‘n’ roll 
band in the world would be like when you were a kid and you 
first heard about rock ‘n’ roll. 


Erase Errata “Nightlife” (Kill Rock Stars, killrockstars.com) 
Brilliantly awesome. Not as mathematically No Wave as on 
their previous albums, they have gone from robot jazz punk to 
cyborg action punk. And these cyborgs have something to 
say! | listened to this CD eighty times already and I’m not 
only exhausted from dancing. ..1’m exhausted from thinking! 


Roky Erickson (Live, Intonation Festival, Chicago. June 24, 
2006) Friends have asked me, now that Roky Erickson is 
performing again, did I think hé would ever play in Chicago ? 
Six months ago, | made the prediction that he would, in two 
years’ time. Now, it's just like that chick flick with Ke- 
YAWN-Nu Reeves .(but, not enough of Miss Mia!), two years 
hayen’t passed, but I'm seeing the future of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and 
his name is STILL Roky Erickson! The Intonation proved an 
intimate setting for Roky's Chicago debut, even though it 
wasn't in a club. | was expecting to be standing a mile back 
staring at a small blip that sounds like Roky, but there was 
plenty of room to move right up (though there were also 
plenty of people, I didn’t notice any crowding or shoving, just 
as it was with my first Baptism by Fire with Roky in Austin, 
1993), From the first few thunderous guitar chords to the sky- 
splitting strains of THAT VOICE, Roky put on a no holds 
barred Rock ‘n’ Roll show. Though he may not have been 
singing at the peak of his powers when I first saw him, he was 
still mesmerizing, indeed, transcendent. Roky ‘06, the new 
and improved model, was simply DEVASTATING, pushing 
the sound barrier time and again, screamin’ and beamin' and 
steamin' with the killer combo of the aptly dubbed "Creature 
Guitar " sound, phuzzed out and phosphorescent, and, of 
course, the still-transcendent quality of his voice, which left 
fans and newcomers alike freakin’ peakin'! All around, jaws 
were dropping, gasping in awe, smiles broke out 
uncontrollably that have yet to unhinge, while others stood on 
the verge of tears, or were already there. None were smiling 
so big and so true as Erickson himself, who was truly feeling 
the love. This is no run of the mill Rock star we're talking 
about (what we're talking about is a super-nova !), Roky is 
Rock royalty, but he stood before his legions of ecstatic fans, 
humbled and truly happy to get back to where he’s ALWAYS 
belonged, telling ghost stories for the new millennium, Horror 
Hits like "Cold Night For Alligators,” "I Walked With a 
Zombie,” "I Think Up Demons,” "Don't Shake Me, Lucifer,” 
“Two-Headed Dog" and "Creature With The Atom Brain" and 





"The Beast" all bore Roky's signature phrasing, as clear and 
concise as ever, and he screamed those lyrics (in key, of 
course) with the same conviction of the original recordings. A 
lovely “Starry Eyes" was complemented by an even lovelier 
"Splash One,” given a beautiful psychedelic treatment by The 
Explosives, Roky's longest standing backing band. Of Course, 
"You're Gonna Miss Me" was Garage manna from Heaven, 
Roky attained those same-spine-chilling shrieks of yesteryear, 
and The Explosives summoned up all their Punk Rock n"' Roll 
Blues Alien energy 'til they burned The Windy City down! 
Closing the show (they went overtime-THANK GOD!), Roky 
played a letter perfect rendition of "Before You Accuse Me" 
by Bo Diddley (a staple in the Elevators’ live set), The crowd 
didn’t want him to leave, of course, but, after a Lucky 13 (as 
in Elevators) incendiary songs, it was over. There are still 
pieces of my brains scattered on the green at Union Park. 
Thank you, Roky. Chicago loves you. But, you know that, 
now. "And Now I'm Home...To stay.” 


Escape Grace “II” (Arsenal POB 863 Gainesville FL 32602) 
Intense extreme post-hardcore that screamed me into 
submission. 


The Essex Green “Cannibal Sea” (Merge POB 1235 Chapel 
Hill NC 27514) Folk Rock without the freak-folk or Byrds 
baggage. :This CD combines great melody with some fine 
guitar sound and some groovy left-field innovations. Essexy! 


The Evens “Get Evens” (Dischord) When this 2 piece, 2 
voice band hits, as on the irresistible “You Fell Down,” the 
menacing “No Money," and the sure-to-get-them-a visit-from- 
Secret Service “Dinner With the President,” they are really 
something special. Apparently most bands have too many 
people in them. 


Evermore “dreams” (EW) Never Bore! It may be dark, but it 
brightened my day with awesomeness. 


“Everybody loves...AntiSeen” tribute compilation (TKO) 
Nearly sixty tracks covering the greatest juicin’ wrasslin’ 
rockers of all time, featuring every Confederacy of Scum 
band, Hank III, Blowfly, Texas Terri and dozens more. Many 
bands, in fact most, have to actually tone down and mellow up 
the originals just to even attempt to cover the songs. A killer, 
exhausting comp. . 


Every Move A_ Picture 
V2records.com) Every Song A Hit! 


“Heart=Weapon™ (V2, 


Evil Beaver “Models of Virtue” (evilbeaver.us) This is what 
Bass n Drum music should be...scary rock n roll that makes 
you want to break things! 


Exit Clov “Respond Respond” (Livewire) Harmonious (and 
harmony-heavy) synthesis of synths and thoughtfulness. 


The Falcon “unicornography” (Red Scare, redscare.net) A 
punk slam dunk! 


Fast Product “Tall Coin (Semiotic Idiot, 
fastproductmusic.com) This Product is Fast becoming one of 
my favorite CDs. Great rock singing with smart lyrics and 
seductive music make this platter matter. 


Fat Worm of Error “Pregnant Babies Pregnant with 
Pregnant Babies” (Load) This is the only art noise soundscape 
record that can cure headaches, Throw away your aspirin and 
fill your medicine cabinet with multiple copies of this disc! 


Faulter ‘darling Buds of May” (Abacus) Faultier than every 
other band 


Faun Fables “the transit rider" (Drag City) Remember that 
TV show Beauty and the Beast, about a noble world under the 
subways, and the tragic hero that inhabited it? This is like that 
show, but set to Renaissance Faire music. 


Fazzini “sulphur, glue the star” (Locust) Made me 
Fazzsleepy. 


Feathers “synchromy” (Hometapes) This sounds like a lot of 
songs thatare about to start. They sound like they will be 
awesome songs, they just never get to the song part. 


Fellow Project “Where's the Wire?” (Make or Break, 
makeorbreakrecords.com) Fine fellows! 





Melissa Ferrick “In the Eyes of Strangers” (Right On, 
melissaferrick.com) Out DeiFranco's Ani with these 
emotional, raw, excellent songs. 


Fighting the Unicorn “Promote Escapism” 
(fightingtheunicorn.com) I’m not fighting it, as this classy 
psyche folk has me making love to the unicorn. Ouch. 


Filthy White Trash “Free Ride” 
(myspace.com/filthywhitetrash) This is just street punk that 
knocks you down with an elbow to the skull then helps you 
up. 


Final Conflict “No Peace on Eart, No Rest in Hell” (SOS) 
Punk vets return with a brutal slab of punk fucking rock that's 
fucking punk and fucking rock, and if you don’t like this you 
are a poser. 


Final Fantasy “He Poos Clouds” (Tomlab) What the hell...? 


Finn’s Motel “escape velocity” (scat, scatrecords.com) 
Sounds like Cheap Trick if they started today as a college bar 
band. Which is an awesome thing to sound like. 


First Choice “it’s not over — the greatest hits” (Koch) First let 
me establish that there is something extremely cheap and 
weird about Koch's Salsoul reissue series. While they are all 
compiled well, and feature extensive credits for each track, 
the artwork all looks like blurry color Xeroxes, there are never 
explanatory liner notes, and there is never even a blurb on the 
back cover to explain how these different acts fit into this 
label's Latin Soul profile. That said, this is the absolute best 
release in the series. Their primary source material ~ the 
original tracks — would establish this group as one of the best 
dance girl groups of the disco era, “Doctor Love” and “Love 
Thang” were two super-powerful tunes. But what makes this 
CD essential are the two remixes it includes of “Let No Man 
Put Asunder” (or as some call it, including the CD title, “It's 
Not Over"). This song was a pillar of 80s dance clubs, and 
house music was built around it. Frankie Knuckles’ mix is 
included as well as Shep Pettibone’s, and just this tune alone 
justifies the purchase of this CD. The only knock is that they 
left off the original version, which I can’t even remember ever 
hearing. 


The Fitt “Elastica Pacafic” ep (Big Neck) A sound storm that 
will give you fitts if you try to fitt these in your ears 
unlubricated. 


The Five Mod Four “Whiskers” (Contraphonic POB 2203 
Chicago IL 60690) Not exactly by-the-numbers power pop, 
this is a great take on 60s and 70s pop, all done just a hair off- 
kilter making it sound weird and wonderful. 


The Fix “At the Speed of Twisted Thought..." (Touch and 
Go) Many collector scum cynics will argue that the reason the 
Fix's 1981 debut single (and the Touch and Go label's second 
release) sells for roughly a zillion dollars has nothing to do 
with how good it is, but rather that it is ultra rare (200 copies 
pressed is what I've always heard). While that cost analysis 
might be factually true, as far as I'm concerned it's complete 
bullshit, because one listen to either of their singles makes it 
abundantly clear that if any hardcore music is worth a zillion 
dollars on its own merits it’s this stuff. The haters have gone 
on to say that this is just typical hardcore, and to that I say a). 
So what if it is, because it's not just typical, it’s prototypical, 
as this is one of the bands that invented Midwest h/c, and 
furthermore, one of the beautiful things about the hardcore 
movement was the purity of form - many bands sounded 
alike, but they sounded alike sublimely. And, b). It's nor 
typical because it breaks the “no classic rock guitar solo” rule 
that's a foundation of the hardcore constitution. Guitarist 
Craig Calvert, foreshadowing decades laboring on the 
Chicago blues scene, includes Guitar Center showoff wankery 
in almost every tune. He just happens to squeeze each 
elaborate solo into 3 seconds. And you gotta love lightning- 
quick licks (that's what she said). The most jarring thing 
about this CD reissue (which features both T&G singles, their 
comp track, everything else they recorded in the studio, and a 
few live sets recorded during the band’s 1980-1982 existence) 
is that the two tracks off their debut sound incredibly well- 
recorded and slick. This is undoubtedly due to my having 
listened to a bootleg for years that sounds like it was recorded 
onto a microcassette off of a transistor radio, but even still, it 
sounds like some re-mastering mighta happened. I'm happy to 
say that the remaining material, especially the great live stuff, 
sounds raw, cheap and perfect. If you've never heard this than 
you need to get your Fix. Necros reissue next, please! 


97 


Flattbush “Seize the Time!” (Koolarrow) Flattend me. 


Forget Cassettes “Salt” (Theory 8) What a good singing 
voice! 


“Fortune Cookies Pt. II” compilation (Fortune POB 11302 
Berkeley CA 94712) A nice selection of strange, dynamic, 
fairly futuristic Bay Area bands, Highlights are the 
melodramatic Love X Nowhere, the pop magic of 20 Minute 
loop, and an apparent musical genius named Erik Alan. 


46 Short “Truth Denied" (TKO 8941 Atlanta Ave#S505 
Huntington Beach CA 92646) Exploso-punk! If you can’t 
skate to this then get a tricycle. 


jForward, Russia! “give me a wall” (mute) jj! Futuristic 
punk dance music that predicts a brilliant, musically future. 


Josephine Foster “Wolf In Sheep's Clothing” (Locust POB 
220426 Chicago IL 60622) Foster is the ballsiest player in the 
current amorphous “freak folk" world, as demonstrated by 
this quietly jarring album of German love songs (I assume 
they.are love songs, no sprechen zie Deutsche) from the 
1800s. While the delicate Teutonic phrasing semantically 
brings to mind Klaus Nomi’s powerful, exquisite fragility, 
that’s really stretching for a reference point. But, Hell, who 
Aas listened to German love songs from the 1800s? That said, 
1 LOVE IT! She will enchant you. I just hope she’s not 
singing about German sausage. They make me gassy. 


442eme Rue zine (64 Bd Georges Clemenceau 89100 Sens 
France) Fuck anyone in America who doesn’t like the French, 
because the fucking French love Johnny Thunders and 
Flamin’ Groovies and all kinds of good North American shit, 
and they invented bikinis and several popular sex acts. 


IV Thieves “If We Can't Escape My Pretty” (New West 9215 
Olympic Blvd LA, CA 90712) On a scale of I to X I'd give 
them aIV.V 


Fourth Rotor “Plain” (Southkore 2814 S, Spaulding Chicago 
IL 60623) This is so punk it poops safety pins! And they are 
definitely angry about something. I’m going to leave the 
keyboard now and figure out what. 


Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 “Little Box of 
Horrors” (Restless) One of my favorite horror-trash- 
Crampsian-nutty-Halloween-all-year bands releases 
everything they ever did in a massive five disc box that’s as 
big and scary as the Misfits coffin box, but goofier. These 
guys have gone all out for years and the previously unreleased 
rarities and live video footage is a convincing testament to 
this bands dedication to absurdity. 


Frequent Flyer (Pan-Ami) A musical Mile High Club. 


From A Second Story Window “Delenda” (Metal Blade) 
Dullenda. 


“From the Closet to the Charts: Queer Noises 1961-1978" 
(Indigo/Trikont) Jon Savage compiled this amazing collection 
of gay themed records that offers a broad, fascinating audio 
survey of gay representation in pop music. While I've heard 
several comps of gay records before it’s often making fun of 
gays, or of gay camp, in a way that’s incomparable to the 
warmth and care Savage put into his curatorship here. A 
number of comedy and cabaret recordings released for gay 
audiences are included, there are songs with gay themes that 
are melodramatic (Rod McKuen), tolerant and sympathetic 
(the Miracles’ 1975 “Ain’t Nobody Straight in L.A. “), and 
reportorial (The Ramones “53” and 3"). The Gay all stars 
show up, including Jobriath, Joe Meek (in a Tornados b-side 
that slips some gay banter onto the end of an instrumental) 
and the mighty Sylvester keeping it real. And there are boldly 
gay artists whose careers were blips, likely because they 
refused to. pretend they were singing to women (the Country 
singer Peter Grudzien, singer/songwriter Michael Cohen, and 
the talented Chris Robinson). The bold genre mixing, message 
mixing, and camp/tragedy/sci fi mixing here make this comp 
sound like no other. The bitchy catfights that occupy the 
comedy tracks may seem a bit cliché, but Savage addresses 
camp in an essay included, and overall this is a stellar release, 
I can think of a few records that might have been included 
(for example “CB Savage” in which the surface homophobia 
is balanced by some amazing subtext, as the truckers abject 
fear and magnetic pull towards the gay voice on the CB 
speaker is oddly empowering, and thé amazing David Allan 
Coe song “Fuck Anita Bryant,” in which he is angered at the 
anti-gay activist because his prison experience taught him that 


homosexuals can do all kinds of wonderful things for you, 
including providing sex and killing you). But that quibble 
aside, this is a amazing release, It's here, get used to it! 


Frustration “Full of Sorrow” (Born Bad) Art school rock 
from the scummiest art school imaginable. In other words. ..so 
good it made me want to fuck the CD player! 


ft(the Shadow Government) “guns of august” (Scenester 
Credentials) {(uck) t(his). 


Full Blown Zero (fullblownzero.com) Fully blew my mind! 
That is what I call rock! 


function “the secret miracle fountain” (Locust POB 220426 
Chicago, IL 60622) Removed the “fun” from function. 


Functional Blackouts “The Severed Tongue Speaks for 
Everyone” (Criminal IQ) This record rocked so raucously that 
it broke my record player! Literally. All the LPs and 45s I 
reviewed after this I just cut and pasted from Pitchfork and 
just replaced the words “genius” and “brilliant” with “sucks.” 
A combo like this makes it hard for cranks that want to 
complain that there’s no good local bands. 


“The Funhouse Comp Thing” (Funhouse 206 5* Ave N. 
Seattle, WA 98109) So I guess the Funhouse must be the best 
club in the world, because bands like the Armitage Shanks, 
the Bugs, the Primate 5, Girl Trouble, Ape City R&B, Gas 
Huffer, and a new one for me, Steaming Wolf Penis, play 
there. This is a collection of killer unreleased tracks by 
amazing bands. Buy it, most preferably at the club. 


F-Units “Reject on Impact” (f-units.com) Awesome punk 
with Misfits-ish chanting and straight up rocking rock. F 
yeah! 


Funk You Very Much DVD (inakustic) Drawing from the 
brightly lit. unfunky German Ohne Filter TV series DVD 
collection, these clips are less groovy than you would expect 
from a DVD comp with Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Curtis 
Mayfield, Gatemouth Brown, Tony Joe White. But it's better 
than buying all 13 DVDs. 


“Fuzztones Ilegitimate Spawn” (Sin, Postfach 21035, 
10121 Berlin Germany) | definitely consider the Fuzztones 
the best garage rock act of the 1980s revival, hands down. Of 
course, | really didn’t think much of *80s garage; didn’t dig 
the Cynics, disliked most of the Midnight Records roster, and 
to take it a step back, I was never even a Fleshtones fanatic. 
But Rudy Protrudi seemed to really have something, and the 
directness and the dynamic and the fuzz-ness of the Fuzztones 
seemed just about right. A quarter century later the band is 
back, which is quite a triumph, as my sources told me even as 
4 concept the Fuzztones were in dire straits just a few years 
back, Their recent album “Salt for Zombies” was excellent, 
but though it's not an actual Fuzztones record, in a way this is 
more exciting. Over forty international trash rock bands pay 
tribute to Rudy and company, and while there aren't many 
“name” acts (the late Nikki Sudden and the century-to-early- 
for-her-time Jayne County) the fact that the other acts found 
this kind of music and spread the virus for the love of it is a 
testament to the power of the Fuzztones, Standouts include 
Manganzoides from Peru, Fuzz Faces from Brazil and the 
Frantic V from Greece. Though I'd never heard of those acts 
(but will seek them out now) some of my faves also make 
appearances, including the Marshmallow Overcoat, and 
Chicagoland's own Crookshanks, All of the songs are great, 
all of the bands exude Rudy-love, and you aren't going to 
spend a fuzzier two hours this year. 


Jon Garcia (myspace.com/jongarciaportland) Yawn Garcia. 


Gargoyles comic (Slave Labor Graphics) I liked the cartoon, 
but this kind of sucks, 


Jim Gaven “Feelings, Thoughts and Tendencies” 
(jimgaven.com) Jim is a kid with a guitar, a voice that will 
make girls swoon, a lot of promise, and an ability to write 
good songs with great song titles. 


Gay Sex in the 70s DVD (Wolfe pob 64 New almaden CA 
95042) Give these filmmakers credit — this documentary made 
me want to have gay sex in the 70s. I now walk the streets at 
night with Sylvester on my ipod as my full time soundtrack. 


Gaza “I Don’t Care Where | Go When I Die” (Metal Blade) 
The absolute most extreme sounding metal I've heard since 
Milwaukee Metalfest started to suck. This actually killed me. 


G.B.H. “Charged G.B.H. on stage ~ City Baby Attacked by 
Rats” DVD (MVD) If you think you want to see a 2004 
G.B.H. concert, you are mistaken. Ouch. 


Genuine Rocket Pack by eric lab rat ($2, 1513 W. Sherwin 
Chicago, IL 60626) This short story is a great tale for kids of 
all ages about a boy getting a rocket pack from a comic book 
and the hilarity that ensues. But you don’t send in box tops for 
ads in comic books, only for things on boxes. 


Geordie "The Singles Collection" (7 T 's-Cherry Red CD). I 
never really got it with AC/DC, sorry. A song or two here and 
there, maybe, but, I was never driven to make such 
intellectually*far-reaching statements as " The AC/DC show 
was GREAT! | don't remember a fucking thing!!" and "Shit, 
dude, I drank so much beer at the AC/DC concert, if I ran out 
of gas, I could have pissed in the gas tank and still made it 
home!!" Such was the cultural awareness in my high school. 
Not that I didn’t like some dumb-ass music, too, but, in my 
day, AC/DC was the one thing the jocks and the stoners 
agreed on, and, having moved on to punk and New Wave 
(which, like the 10 to 20 kids in my school who gave a shit, J 
was late for that, too), I agreed to disagree, not because I was 
blindly following a miniscule pack, but, because I didn’t think 
the biggest thing since the recently disbanded Led Zeppelin 
was very good. BUT, in later years, | agreed that AC/DC were 
LIKE a punk band in their rawness and disregard for 
proficiency, but it didn’t make me like them much 
better...However, about 10 years ago, I got turned on to 
Geordie, Brian Johnson's pre-AC/DC group, which were 
having hits in The U.K. and on the continent while his future 
bandmates were still struggling in Orstralia, Geordie's stuff 
got re-issued several times on the strength of Johnson's later 
fame, and a pretty weak reunion LP hit the shops in the 80s, 
but, where were these recordings when I needed them? Well, 
bonnie lad, they're right here, loaded to the brim with foot- 
stompin’ beer blasts, Brit boogie and even Celtic guitar 
melodies not unlike Eric Bell-era Thin Lizzy. It's a frothy 
combination, to say the least, but it goes down well. Hailing 
from Newcastle (the city AND the beer), Geordie had a style 
and substance comparable to their fellow Geordies (northern 
Englishmen), Slade, though they didn’t loon it up in crazy 
Glammed-out costumes. Geordie represented the more 
"Butch" side of Glam, as did Noddy and co., musically 
speaking, but, while Slade found their thing and stuck to it, 
Geordie experimented with a more diverse array of musical 
patterns. Geordie's best known (if it's known much at all) song 
in the U.S. would have to be the infectuous "All Because of 
You,” a big hit in The U.K..With it's football (soccer to us 
yanks) stompin’ chant, "HEY! HEY! HEY!,” a lead guitar 
part that sounds like "Gudbuy T'Jane" played by Eric Bell, 
and Johnson screaming his epiglottis out in much the same 
macho fashion he'd become famous for with that well-known 
Australian band (who, come to think of it, has about as many 
Aussies as their big brother band, The Easybeats), but he's 
singing about how a woman's love has turned his life around, 
and opened the door to happiness. Not AC/DC material, is it? 
Well, Geordie, unlike Viz comics’ celebrated Sid The Sexist, 
always scores down the pub, or anywhere else. Don't be afraid 
of what your friends might think. This is not * guilty pleasure” 
70s Hard Rock, nor is it really the precursor to the fabled 
AC/DC sound; it's just bawdy, good natured rock ‘n’ roll. The 
success of bands like Geordie and Slade was no anomaly. 
Black Sabbath were also raving loonies from the North. So, 
be you from the U.S. or the U.K, Geordie'll have you Yobbo 
dancin’ away! 


Gerina (gerinamusic.com) Gerina can sing and she's lovely 
so this CD is trying to figure out what style will work for her, 
so every style of commercial Country is dabbled with, and all 
have some charms, but she may want to go closer to Kelly 
Clarkson-ville with that voice of her. 


“Get Into the Groove” CD, Nathaniel Mayer “Ride In My 
225” b/w “Mr, Santa Claus” (Norton) Back in the day there 
occasionally would be albums available that captured the 
revues of the Motown caravan, Ike and Tina's ensemble, or 
James brown's crew, where you would hear a parade of 
Soul/R&B stars on one LP, a few cuts at a time, giving you 
just the perfect flavoring and tastes of these talents. Often you 
would be surprised by a name you didn’t expect to blow you 
away. On this album, recorded live in Brooklyn in Fall, 
2003,that is also the case. Though it features the oft- 
celebrated Andre Willaims, Nathaniel Mayer, Bettye Lavette, 
Dolemite, King Coleman, Mighty Hannibal, Great Gaylord, 
King Coleman and a savage-free Barrence Whitfield (all 
putting in great-to-stellar performances), it is the two tracks 
by Lonnie Youngblood and the Rloodhounds (one with the 


98 


Fabulous Soul Shakers) that really tear this album up. 
Youngblood’s voice is so amazing, and his band is so killer, 
that you will be shook, rattled and Souled out. The vocals and 
harmonies on “I Found A Love” were genuinely chilling, and 
the Bloodhounds (who back up most of the artists on this set) 
are a really solid, old-time Soul band, which is rare to hear 
these days, as most good-paying white audiences want hack 
blues riffs and most good-paying. black audiences want a 
variation on smooth jazz, (even when doo wop era performers 
like Gene Chandler and Jerry Butler play). The Shanks, who 
back up Nathaniel Mayer during his set, do a fine job, but 
their backup singing, R&B grooving, and general Soul- 
quotient clearly suffer from following the Bloodhounds (no 
insult there, the Rolling Stones were absolutely killer during 
there T.A.M.J. Show bit, but who wants to follow James 
Brown). But what you take away from the Mayer songs is that 
he simply can really, really sing. A bit of imperfect, raspy. 
wear-and-tear has always been the mark of authenticity in 
Soul music. For that reason, to some degree, as a singer ages 
and their instrument gets a bit more worn, there's a possibility 
for improvement (just hear how sublime Bettye Lavette 
sounds on her hit Anti album, not to mention on the two 
barnburning, houserocking ensemble songs she sings with 
Williams, Mayer, and the rest of the gang to bring this album 
home). Well, sometimes a voice can be too shot, as Andre's 
sorta is on this album, but since his reemergence a few years 
back Mayer has demonstrated a new wrinkle on this balance 
of perfectly seasoned and too far gone vocal chord damage 
As he sings his songs in a ragged rasp it often seems like 
when he gets to the key moment of a song he isn’t going to 
get the sound he needs, but time after time, especially on 
ballads (he does his romantic hits on this album) he almost- 
mystically pulls something out that is pure magic just as he 
gets to the needed note. The way his time-worn throat 
produces these unbelievably beautiful sounds just when it 
seems impossible for him to do so marks him as a true singer 
with true soul. He isn’t just a legend because he's been 
around, he proves that he is actually one of the Great Ones. 
This entire album is a wonder and you need to get it. The 
Mayer X-mas 45, by the way, also perfectly captures that 
hoodoo of the contemporary voice of Mr. Mayer, emphasizing 
his remarkable ability to make any syllable seem naughty and 
charged, And like all Norton releases this fills in the gaping 
chasm left by the inactivity of the awesome Kicks magazine 
by presenting some print material that woulda graced the 
page, in this case a 1964 foto of Mr. Mayer and the missus 
both looking tres beautiful and hep drinking beers at a Little 
Richard gig. The pic is so hot that the 45 is worth the price 
even if you don’t have a record player. 


Giant Squid (theendrecords.com) Heavier than a giant 
fucking whale this is extreme doom metal that actually at 
times sounds like it is played by humongous sea creatures 
You will get a hernia just listening to this. 


Wilson Gil & the Willful Sinners “American Banned” 
(Tinnitus, tinniturrecords.com) Punky twang is a funky thang 


Gil Mantera’s Party Dream “Bloodsongs” (Audio Eagle/Fat 
Possum POB 1923 Oxford MS 38655) The sexiest party 
music in America. Sure they have the best live show of the 
new Millennium, but whoda thought that they could translate 
the passion to plastic (or whatever CDs are made of). This 
made me love again. 


Giri (Locomotive) Better than the Beatles! And handsomer, 


Gist “Diesel City” (Red Stapler Records, 
redstaplerrecords.com) Gust OK. 
Gito Gito Hustler “Love & Roll” (Gearhead, 


gearheadrecords.com) Everyone's favorite Japanese female 
garage rock superstars (and if their our 2”, 3” or 4" fave in 
this category, you are wrong!) is back with a record that will 
make you dance, shake and quake. Also, they have finally 
recorded what is destined to be the 4" Top Ten version of 
“The Locomotion.” 


Giuntini Project “II!” (Locomotive) This is an album wityh 
great rock drumming, some fine singing, wailing guitars and 
dramatic rocking songwriting. Geniustini! 


Glass Casket “Desperate Man’s Diary” (Abacus) Modern 
death metal with a singer who actually has vocal range, this 
glass casket is half-full...of brilliant brutality! 


Goatwhore “A Haunting Curse” (Metal Blade) New Orleans 
Black Metal that, like Katrina, is all wet. 1 know that's mean 


ra 


| 
| 


considering how personal and dark and heart rending this is 
supposed to be, but it’s pretty boring. 


God Dethroned “the toxic touch” (Metal Blade) Ultra- 
dramatic brutality that combines blazing speed, bullets of 
melody, monster vocals, and fantastic story songs, 
Vaccinations are useless! 


“God Save the Queen - a punk rock ANTHOLOGY” DVD 
(MVD) MVD has been releasing some remarkable music 
DVDs over the last few years, often digging up amazing, 
obscure masterpieces, or lost historically essential 
independent documentaries or music compilations (they are 
the DVD home of the Target videos). But they also have put 
out a few knockoffs, including concert videos featuring 
single-camera fan shot footage of bands decades past their 
prime, or projects that capitalize on the name of a rock star 
without actually having said rock star involved or featured. 
Thus, when they compile the best segments of their releases 
‘onto a themed anthology video, you might be wary. Their last 
punk compilation featured too much inferior material, and 
defined punk so broadly that it didn’t work as a cohesive 
document. This amazing release corrects those mistakes. 
Featuring, for the most part, the all time greatest punk bands 
of the pre-hardcore era, and the best Oi and proto-punk acts, 
this really is a clinic for folks who want to know what the 
music is all about. Great archival segments include a brutal 
live Dead Boys clip, amazing X-Ray Spex footage (with a 
killer Poly Styrene interview), and a short Germs segment 
with Darby as.gloriously incomprehensible as he could be. 
And even the contemporary concerts by aged legends is either 
totally legit (the Stooges reunion concert) or edited 
dramatically in multi-camera shoots so you can't see the 
wrinkles (Subhumans), Of course, a lot of the video quality is 
appropriately subpar, as much of this was mastered from 
decades old VHS, but that’s punk! And sure, some of this is 
cheap as hell (the Toy Dolls spent about 8 pence on their 
video) but pre-Green Day, that was your punk budget. My 
only two complaints are that the video doesn’t include info on 
what full-length videos these are culled from (though there are 
hints, like the credits that run over the Exploited’s mohawks) 
and that the sequencing was kind of ruined by including a 
long Johnny Thunders interview near the beginning. Even 
though it was fascinating to see Thunders trying to keep 
himself together while an annoying British interviewing tries 
to be proper while digging for heroin quotes, it killed the 
punk-pace of the DVD, and should have been at the end, even 
though | understand wanting to put early legends of punk at 
the beginning. But overall this was a joy to watch, and should 
be required viewing at Schools of Rock. 


Godsmack “IV” (Republic/Universal) Now Godsmackier! 


Go Go Sushi “Better Living with Beer” (Koala Syndicate) 
Beer did not cause this! Blame something else; parents’ 
divorce, black tar heroin, full moon, priest abuse, anything 
else, Just don't blame beer. 


“Go-Kart Vs. The Corporate Giant 4” (Go-Kart, POB 20 
Prince St. Station NYC 10012) This sampler focuses on some 
awesome rock from Bambix, The Ergs, the mighty Shocker 
‘and many more, including bands you are glad are still around 
(World Inferno Friendship Society) and bands you can’t 
believe are still around (Ten Foot Pole). Can't beat the price! 


Goldblade “Punk-Rockers in the Dance Hall” (SOS) | usually 
don't like to just copy stuff from press kits, but this band's 
press kit sums it up nicely; “Goldblade fucking rules!” 


The Goldstars “Purple Girlfriend” (Pravda POB 268043 
Chicago IL 60626) Super awesome 60s-ish garage rock that és 
actual fun, tuneful and dance inducing. This is one fo the best 
bands in this hemisphere, 


Alex Gomez “Warm Sensations” (Alexgomez.biz) Bizarrely 
saturated guitar treated so thoroughly it sounds like a Martian 
is playing it makes these blues numbers extra awesome, extra 
dynamic, and extraterrestrial. And he runs his vocals through 
some kind of device that’s just as wild and just as googly. Or 
he’s a spacesrobot who just sings like that. 


Go Metric zine (801 Eagles Ridge Road Brewster, NY 10509) 
Our sister zine, but this issue she's a sister who stole our ipod 
(actually they just printed an article on Perry Como that we 
published five years ago). But there's a zillion other great 
articles here, mentioning the Germs, Grand Funk, Motorhead 
and competitive air guitar! 





Good Riddance “My Republic” (Fat) Should be called Great 
Punk-ance! 


Goribor “hocu kuci” (Slusaj Najglasnije! Teskovec 27c¢ 
10090, Zagreb Croatia) Funky bass playing means that Gori 
never bores. 


The Gossip “Listen Up!" (Kill Rock Stars) Ridiculously 
excellent. This EP features dance remixes of this already 
super soulful, crazy groovy dance song. And it has an Arthur 
Baker remix?!?_ And an Aaliyah cover!!?7!! Best release of 
its kind of the year, but since it is a one of a kind record, that 
means little. 


Gracer “Voices Travel” (Revelation POB 5232 Huntington 
Beach CA 92615) Dense, layered melodie intensity that is 
dense, layered, melodic and intense. 


Graves at Sea/Asunder split (Life Is Abuse POB 20524 
Oakland CA 94620) This is the sound of the apocalypse. 
Graves at Sea is way eviler, but Asunder is way heavier, and 
putting them together on one disc is audio Ragnardk. 


The Great Crusades “Four Thirty” (Innocent Words) Great! 
Though I’m not sure what they are crusading for. This is rock 
‘n’ roll via Americana/Southern swampy music with some 
awesome singing. Maybe they are crusading for better 
singing. 


David Greenberger & Birdsongs of the Mesozoic “1001 
Real Apes” (PelPel, duplexplanet.com) Greenberger definitely 
has collaborated in interesting ways to transform his 
interview-based work into musical magic, but I've discussed 
his work at length in past reviews. Here I'd just like to 
compliment his oration. When his work makes its way to 
radio, either in an NPR piece or when a CD like this gets 
college radio airplay, his is a great sounding vox,.as it is 
boldly Jew-y, without being the slightest bit whiny. Bravo, 
Greenberger! 


Green Carnation “The Acoustic Verses” (The End Records, 
theendrecords.com) This sounds more like Pink Floyd than 
the last twenty-eight years of Pink Floyd. And that is despite 
this being an acoustic album with a lot of violin. 


the gregg yeti “the ender's mind,” “leper pony” (Koala 
Syndicate POB 35070 Syracuse, NY 13235) The devil made 
this. 


Gregor Samsa “55:12” (Kora) If this was 4 minutes and 48 
seconds longer I could have had an hour long nap. Snooze- 
tastic! By the way, the CD is actually only 50:31 now that I 
look at it 


Grogshow (Futureappletree POB 191 Davenport Iowa 52805) 
This is an archival release of a lost lowa indie duo that made 
yearning, strange music that simultaneously sounds like a 
stark bedroom solo act and a lush group. 

t 

Guajiro (achala) This hybrid of good punk (as in, pre-1990s) 
and Spanish music is dynamic, fun, and easy to listen to 100 
times in a row. It may not be a revolutionary as its imagery, 
but it’s solid just the same. 


Guillemots “from the cliffs” (Fantastic Plastic) Apparently 
these are sonic geniuses, 


Gutbucket “sludge test” (Cantaloupe 80 Hansen PI suite 702 
Brooklyn NY 11217) Funky rocking sax-crimes committed in 
the name of the skronk-rights movement. 

= 





of genius. When | saw “Detroit” and “Hair” | expected 
damaged noise, so when I got pseudo British lush pop meets 
post-something art music | wasn’t just pleasantly surprised, | 
was joyously seduced 


99 


T. Hallenbeck “Packrat” (POB 8570 Emeryville CA 9462- 
8570) T must stand for Talented! Clever tunes sung in an 
interesting timber (another “T” word) that I'd go to Hall n° 
back to hear! 


Neil Hamburger “The World's Funnyman” DVD (Drag 
City) This DVD demonstrates what happens when an 
underdog becomes an overdog. While the funniest stuff on 
here is the so-called “bonus” material (including a genuinely 
hilarious Hamburger documentary from Australian TV, a low- 
budget music video, and a film noir recreation of Neil's 
infamous Malaysian tour), the main feature is a little jarring 
because Neil seems to have “made it” in a way that puts his 
lovable loser status at risk. Just as the second Eddie Murphy 
record and the Andrew “Dice” Clay album suffer comically 
because the massive stadium crowds seem too big and 
uncritical to make the laughs seem genuine, on this DVD we 
see Neil appearing before an Australian audience (apparently 
he's “big in Australia”) who have such an intense epidemic of 
“Hamburger Fever” that the charm of the little comedian who 
couldn't is jeopardized, Mind you, his jokes actually are 
funnier than ever and he is deserving of laughs, but this is so 
far removed from the early “anti-comedy” Neil records, in 
which the hostile or indifferent coughing crowd made us want 
to cradle poor Neil in our arms and tell the Charlie Brown of 
comedy —always failing but never giving up — that everything 
is going to be alright. However, because the crowd is so with 
him Neil brilliance as a post modern, underground, anti- 
comedian is able to have one incredibly triumph, as the 
absolute highlight of this disc is the most genuine anti- 
comedy moment in Hamburger history. While the early Neil 
releases seemed to demonstrate every possible situation in 
which a “loser” comic could fail to get a guffaw, this one goes 
the next step by demonstrating a way to make an audience 
that rabidly wants to chuckle swallow their laughter. As Neil 
works the crowd into a frenzy with joke after joke, the 
Aussies seemingly primed to react to anything with hysterics, 
he unleashes a pretty hilarious bawdy zinger about Betsy Ross 
and the founding fathers. As the audience sits in confused 
silence Neil realizes that no one in Australia has ever heard of 
Ms. Ross. And in that moment Neil becomes the Betsy Ross 
of anti-comedy, and the flag he has created waves proudly 
over the world, casting a shadow that looms as long and 
ominous as the stars and bars in the War on Terror era. Bravo 
Mr. H.! As George Bush (the best president in history, in 
Neil's estimation) declared so proudly, “mission 
accomplished!” 


Hammerlock “True Grit: The First Five Years” (Steel Cage 
POB 29247 Philadelphia PA 19125) The Antiseen-led 
Confederacy of Scum is more than a movement, it is a way of 
life for the dirty, violent, rocking, unyielding, driven, 
brilliantly stupid bands that proudly wave the scum flag 
Though all the acts pledge allegiance to pro wrestling as 
America’s gift to world culture, Hammerlock (as 
demonstrated in these historic recordings) may be the CoS 
band that most embodies the aesthetics of classic rasslin’, as 
even when they ignore grappling as a theme they seem to 
sound like the best, brutalest, juice-blodiest match you've 
ever saw on All Star Wrestling as a kid on Sunday morning. If 
Abdullah the Butcher was a band this is the band he would be. 


hands down eugene “madison” (XOXO, xoxorecords.com 
POB 3206 New Brunswick NJ 08903) Get your hands on this 
if you're down with Indie-twangodelia. 


The Happies “if we were really here” (Eden's Watchtower 
221 South 400 West SLC Utah 84101) Should be called the 
Ecstatics because this is way more joy-bringing than their 
current name implies! 


Chris Harford “Looking Out For 
(Reincarnate/Chocodog) Chris Brillaintford! 


Number 6” 


Harvey Danger “Cream and Bastards Rise” b/w “Picture, 
Picture” (Kill Rock Stars, www.killrockstars.com) To quote 
the single, “some are aliens, the rest are spies...ah ha ha ha ha 
ha ha ha ha ha!” Indeed! 


Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “I Hear Voices” b/w The 
Clovertones featuring Esquerita “Didn't It Rain” (Norton) 
This double A+ side features an rare Screamin’ Jay song from 
the 60s in his patented voodoo daddy vein featuring some 
truly inspired howling. Better yet is the flip in which a sacred 
song is made a bit holier and w-a-y more profane by Eskew 
Reeder’s ridiculously distinct, undeniably obscene piano 
pounding. This single seeps Soul, so seek it. 








Hawnay Troof “Dollar and Deed” (Retard Disco) At one 
point, Troof be told, Vice Cooler was just an oversexed 
naughty boy spewing nastiness on wax and making the 
preteens ooze. Well, he’s been in the lab working on his MC 
skills, beats and skeets, and he has now emerged with a 
double album that rivals “Use Your Illusion I" and the first 
side of “Use of Illusion II” in scope, power, and majesty 
Certainly the carnal is stil! on the table (in more ways than 
one) but now HT takes on the weight, the ways and the 
wonder of the world in his million dollar rhymes over 
hundred penny tracks. All I can say to this young innovator is: 
thank you, 


Hazard County Girls “Divine Armor” (Rev'd Up) Indie 
Goth with equal parts menace and womenace. Darkly 
enchanting yet lightly seasoned. * 


* (most poorly written review in history of man) 


Headache “Discography” (Life Is Abuse POB 20524 
Oakland CA 94620) This career overview of these regal UK 
noise/math epilepsy promoters is a stunning package, with a 
thick book containing comix, lyrics, mustache pictures, and a 
noiserock version of the Tibetan book of the Dead. The CD 
chronicles the career of these noisemakers with their album 
and rarities and demos included. This album will cure you! 


Headache City (Shit Sandwich, 1400 . Elmwood Berwyn IL 
60402, shitsandwichrecords.com) This is the tits! Should be 
called Headache Titty! 


The Heather and Ben Show comic/show/minicomix 
(theheatherandbenshow.com) It's very rare for cutesy to 
actually be funny but this stuff is so clever you forgive the 
adorableness, 


The Heavy Blinkers “the night and i are still so young” 
Cooking Vinyl pob 246 Huntington NY 11743) Harkens back 
to the glory days before Light Rock became Lite Rock, and 
then takes it to the lightxtreme by fluffing it up lighter than a 
meringue. 


Heideroosjes “Royal to the Bone” (1 Scream) You'll go 
Dutch after you hear this potent pop punk band that's more 
Clash than Green Day, and more catchy than Dutch elm 
disease! 


Hell-Born “Cursed Infernal Steel” (Ibex Moon) Malevolent, 
wicked, diabolical, crue! terror-metal that eviscerates its 
audience! 


Herbert “Scale” (K7) Disco-rific! Matthew Herbert is back! 
And my feet hurt from the dancing! 


Herbert Wiser Band (herberteiser.com) College rock that 
filters jam band aesthetics through actual early REM (the Old 
Testament of college rock). 


Her Next Friend “new #2” (hernextfriend.com) Your Next 
Favorite Band, 


Heros Severum “Plague Dogs” (Two Sheds POB 5455 
Atlanta GA 31107) Quirky, jerky art rock that isn’t art school 
rock, in that there is a working class edge of realness to this 
scrambled egg music. The song about swimming really is 
about swimming, though the song about a haircut is a 
metaphor, and the (primarily) instrumental about a sick dog is, 
I believe, really about a sick dog. Well maybe not, but it does 
have disco claps, so it’s good anyways. 


Hey Brontosaurus (Fortune POB 11302 Berkeley CA 94712) 
Sounds like a Gay Brontosaurus. Which | actually like. 


Tom Heyman “Deliver Me” (Jackpine 2156 Market St. #4B 
SF, CA 94114) Hey, man, you write great songs! Folkarific! 


Bill Hicks “Sane Man” DVD (Rykodisc) Salvation” 
(Rykodosc) The late stand-up comedian Bill Hicks grew up 
idolizing rock stars, particularly Jimi Hendrix. Late in his 
career his modest success (especially in the UK) allowed 
Hicks to reinvent himself as a rock star comic, dressing in all 
black outlaw costumes and employing dramatic smoke and 
lighting. But it looked like the closest he would get to actual 
rock stardom was when network censors did the comedy 
version of shooting from the waist up by neutering and 
eventually burying his late night talk show routines. But in 
death Hicks has finally matched his idol Hendrix in one very 
significant way. The parade of Hicks post-mortem releases 
has no precedent other than that of Seattle's guitar slinging 


Voodoo Chile. Familiar material performed at various 
concerts has been released countless times, various concerts 
from the same tour have been released, and now that the bulk 
of the finite amount of material is out there, we are actually 
getting re-releases of material fans have already heard or seen. 
That's where these two releases come in. Not that this deluxe 
re-release plan is necessarily a bad thing. For new fans this is 
fresh material, for die-hards it’s important to have the 
expanded editions, and even for longtime casual fans this is 
worthwhile, as the originally excised material is pretty 
powerful. The CD here presents a complete concert Hicks did 
at Oxford for his London fans who dug him because 
Europeans were excited to hear a bold American critic of the 
current US administration because (see if this sounds familiar) 
they had grown to hate President Bush because they felt his 
war on Iraq represented America at its ugliest. Of course 
there's also plenty of stuff about sex, addiction, and pop 
culture (including Hicks’ playing to the crowd by riffing on 
British TV he had seen in his room before the show). The real 
gem of previously unreleased material in this expanded 
version of the CD is the Q and A with the crowd after the 
concert, which shows Hicks’ quickness, as well as his rapport 
with, and affection for, the crowd. The DVD is more 
impressive. It captures an earlier show than the CD, one that 
Hicks had filmed himself as a demo/pilot of sorts, and then 
obscurely released on VHS as an hour Jong comedy special (it 
has since been widely bootlegged). This features that edit, as 
well as the whole concert, which really shows Hicks’ sharp 
timing and mastery of the room better than the hour version. 
Like Lenny Bruce (whose comedy has not aged well to 
younger audiences), it is dangerous to build up Hicks too 
much as a deified comedy genius, as it almost guarantees new 
fans will be a let down. But if you approach these two solid 
releases (and last year's multi-disc DVD and book) not as the 
scripture of a comedy god but as an introduction to one of the 
sharpest, bravest, hardest working comics of the 80s and 90s, 
you won't be disappointed. 


Hi-Frequnecies “Money Isn't Everything” (Teen Regime pob 
100167) All the elements of classic 60s rock & roll/surf/r&b 
teen dance music are in place here, and the vocals are pretty 
good (though a bit too subdued), but something is a little flat 
here. I definitely would (and have) put on the best tracks here 
ata party to get the crowd moving, but | think their first 
album had more promise and I hope the singing has a little 
more oomph next time around. 





Hirax “Thrash Til Death - Live in Concert” DVD (Black 
Devil, blackdevilrecords.com) Lots of live footage (a full 
concert, plus songs from several giant festivals around the 
world) all from last year. No doubt this shreds, thrashes, 
eviscerates and excites, but I sure wish the bonus material 
included live footage from throughout their career. That said, 
this is one musclebound mighty band that can kick your ass 
seven ways. 


eat ' icily by 
Marcella Croce and Moira F. Harris (Pogo ress 4 Cardinal 
Lane St. Paul, MN 55127) This exquisite book tells the 
fascinating history of these ornately decorated carts. Not only 
have colorful non-pictoral decoration on the wheels and axels, 
but also elaborate mini-murals on the side panels. If you 
thopught that barbarian painitng on the side of your van was 
something check out the historical battle paintings o the sdes 
of these carts (or the opposite, a painting of the Marshall Plan 
being announced at Harvard). You will certainly appreciuate 
the research into ancient examples of this art, the photos of 
modern variations (art cars) and the examples of outstanding 
variations, including carved high relief cart decoration and 
decorative horse costumes that would make a New Orleans 
parade participant feel underdressed. 


“Hits and Misses - Muhammad Ali and the Ultimate 
Sounds of Fistfighting” (Trikont) This amazing compilation 
of songs about the Champ, plus songs by the Louisville Lip 


and his opponents is a knockout. Yes, there are a few 
omissions (Alvin Cash's “Ali Shuffle,” the great records by 
his wife, Sonji Clay, and tracks from Ali's original LP, with 
its standup comedy bent), but overall the range and research 
here is amazing. Ali meant everything to Black, Muslim, 
American, and underdogs the world over, so it’s no surprise 
that Cuban, Brazilian, African and Trinidadian musicians paid 
tribute to this icon. There may be better boxers in history than 
Ali, but there will never be a bigger one, and the funk, ré&b, 
soul, folk and spoken word tributes here make that clear. Two 
huge finds here are the sung welcome to Kinshasa Ali and 
Foreman received and a tape of Big George preaching and 
singing Gospel in a rough, imperfect voice. Tom Russell's 
recent grocery list of every aspect of Ali's life, up to his 
current health woes in an interesting choice for an opener, but 
it's the vintage American soul songs like Don Covay’s 
“Rumble in the Jungle” that will have you playing this dise as 
many times as Classic Sports Network repeats the actual 
fights. 


Ho-Ag “The Word From Pluto” (Hello Sir) Futuristic super 
music that will convince you of devious interstellar 
conspiracy theories and then make you not care because 
music on earth is so great 


Holly & Plastic “Life After the Lie" (DPG) Well, this is a 
CD, I guess. And the gentleman can make a lot of different 
types of music, and write songs that all sound OK. Yup. 


Hollywood Square Tet, "Tet Offensive" (Gulcher Records) 
This Los Angeles-based free-jazz trio features a stand-up 
comedian and the former bassist for wiseacre punksters The 
Angry Samoans. Knowing that, it seems less surprising that 
this wild skronk comes peppered with comic insults ("What is 
the password?” someone yells. "Fuck You" comes the reply), 
Equal parts Captain Beefheart and Charles Bukowski, these 
ten tracks offer a wide range of groove and insult, as well as 
explosive drums. Patience is a key word in enjoying this CD. 
Rewards include hearing for the first and likely last time Pete 
Best and Rosie O'Donnell mentioned in the same breath. 


Holy Bat Music! A Tribute to Batman compilation 12” 
picture disc (442eme Rue, leo442rue@wanadoo,fr) You read 


that right: “a Tribute to Batman compilation 12” picture dis 
Trashy, classy geniuses like the Hatepinks, Ramonetes. 
Adventures of Parsley, Adam West (the band not the man) 
and Roctober's own Goblins (with amazing picture disc art by 
Roctober’s own Pedro P.), plus a classic Bat tune by Swell 
Maps make this a platter that matters. Only 500 copies, so 
heed that Bat Signal! 





Home “Sexteen” (Brah West 2™ St. Bloomington IN 47403) 
Fucking A! These are some deep songs about fucking, 
including by not limited to finger fucking, mouth fucking, and 
regular fucking fucking. And the best part is it sounds like 
happy, pretty angel music. 


Homemade Knives “No One Doubts The Darkness” (Triple 
Stamp Records POB 5733 Richmond VA 23220) Duil knives. 


“Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 6” compilation CD/DVD 
(Sub City/Hopeless) A super low-priced triple disc sampler 
featuring every band you ever heard of. The DVD disc three 
is the gem, with Avenged Sevenfold and Atom and his 
Package demonstrating the extrem poles of “A” bands 


Horse Feathers “Words are Dead” (Lucky Madison 4110 SE 
Hawthorne Blvd #402 Portland OR 97214) Great chilling 
minimalist folk-ish singer songwriting is usually held up to 
established heroes, but putting the late Smith and Drake and 
the early Bruce and Bob aside, this act. is just moving as all 
get oiut, with minimalism yielding maximum power and 
might 


Hot Young Priest “Fiendish Freaky Love” (Two Sheds POB 
5455 Atlanta GA 31107-0455) Hotter, younger and more 
priestly than you can imagine. Mary Byrhne sings like a 
magic rock bird! 


Howling Hex “Nightclub version of the Eternal” (Drag City 
POB 476867 Chicago, IL 60647) How! Yes! Sweet rock n roll 
that brings to mind a world 3.5 degrees off center. 


Humans Bow Down “A Mirror” (Phratry) Humans Bore 
Dom. 


Human Television “Look Who You're Talking To” 
(Gigantic Music 59 Franklin St. suite 403 NYC 10013) Fuzzy 
sounds of pop so sad it makes you happy, and so jinglingly 








jolly (a |-o-w- key jolliness, for sure) that it makes you 
sweetly sad 


Hunters, Run! “Broken Sounds” (huntersrunrock.com) 
remember Hunters, man is the most dangerous sport. Because 
only man can mess around with time signatures! 


Hutch Owen! Furious When Furious Wasn't Cool by Tom 
Hart (hutchowen.com) The revolution will be comic strip- 
ivised! 


Hymns “Brother/Sister” (Blackland POB 549 Celeste, TX 
75423) American rock n roll that marries Indie this with 
Country Rock that and gets an amazing this and that thing to 
happen. Great singing! 








If All Else Fails “Do Not Forget To Be Angry” (Baseline 
POB 2541 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729) Smart, dangerous, 
daring punk that profoundly fails to fail 


Iggy and The Stooges “Telluric Chaos"(Skydog, www 
jungle-records. Com) Skydog, of course, was the label that 
released the historically significant, though sonically lacking, 
document of the last-ever (pre-reformation) Stooges show 
(though it’s widely believed that part of the album was taken 
from another show), so, it makes sense that they'd follow it 
up, some three decades later, with the first official (1 think?) 
CD of the reunited Stooges (now billed as "Iggy and The 
Stooges,” a moniker they didn’t adopt until James Williamson 
took over on lead guitar duties), captured (but not imprisoned) 
live in Tokyo. On first listen, this merely sounded like an 
above average fan tape, and it could have been. When I saw 
the reunion gig in Michigan, a LOT of people were openly 
flaunting their recording equipment, despite major security 
gropes at the door, On second listen, the overlapping of the 
band and the crowd makes more sense, AND the overall 
sound clarity is better than I remembered, The Stooges are on 
top of their game, doing nearly every song from their first two 
seminal LPs (and really taking flight with the 
"1970"/"Funhouse" epic), incorporating four new songs along 
the way, one of them brand new (of the four Stooges songs on 
“Skull Ring,” they only did the title track when | saw them), 
and all of them pretty fucking hot, There are moments when I 
had to step back and say, "Whoa! This IS The Stooges! " 
pecially when Ron Asheton and Steven MacKay get into a 
avage guitar/saxophone clash, Sometimes, I'm reminded of 
Destroy All Monsters, even though MacKay is a better sax 
player than Ben Miller (to which a thousand aging Detroit 
scenesters will cry, "WELL, DUH!!!"), Iggy says "Fucl y 
too much (Imagine that), but howls, whoops and hollers like 
he'd never met David Bowie. I saw Scott Asheton play with 
Scott Morgan a couple of times in the late 80s, and his 
drumming was strong, but restrained. Nothing of the sort, 
here. Where he was once better known for beating the shit out 
of PEOPLE (usually jockass motherfuckers hassling his 
friends, his brother, or, if they were REALLY stupid, him), 
he's now content to beat the shit out of his drums (though, I 
wouldn't fancy your chances against him, today, tough guy, 
he still looks totally ripped), like the best moments on the first 
two albums, but with more finesse (reportedly, he took Jazz 
lessons a while back to improve his “Rock Action" 
drumming. It worked!). Ron Asheton matches his brother's 
attack in a blaze of wah-wahs and brutal power chords. They 
waited a long damned time for this chance, and there's no way 
they're gonna let this one slip through their burly hands. Mike 
“We don't need no stinkin’ badges" Watt holds this whole 
ungodly mess together with a bass sound as thick as that of 
Dave Alexander and as dexterous as Ron Asheton, when he 
was relegated to said instrument. The Stooges are putting it 
down, and, while most of us were too young to pick it up the 
first time, those who were there are saying that we're truly 
catching them at their best. No argument 













































I Hate This part of Texas zine (Microcosm, 
microcosmpublishing.com) John’s part of Texas is actually in 
New Orleans. Bikes, healthcare, and drag are all discussed at 
length in a compelling, fun to read zine voice. 





1 Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness (Secretly Canadian) 
“Fear Is On Our Side” | Love This But I've Chosen To Listen 
To Something That Won't Make Me More Depressed. 


Imaginary Icons “eye-cons” b/w “fade” (daggerman) These 
angular punk tunes are so catchy they stay in my head as I 
walk down the street, It's like having an Imaginary Ipod. But 
seriously, they are super memorable songs. The kind that you 
hear on a wicked cool college radio show at 3am and then 
thank god for college radio. 





Imperial “We Sail at Dawn” (Pluto, eastwestrock.com) This 
ground my bones for its supper. 


Incantation “Primordial Domination” (Ibex Moon) One fo 
the all-time greatest death metal bands returns with a 
pulverizing platter of evil thatreturns the at-risk genre to its 
roots while moving the evil forward into the 22™ century. 
Mighty! Plus this was always my fave metal band name, 
because it implies that their music and concerts serve double 
duty as spellcastings. 





ndestructible by Cristy C. Road (Microcosm POB 14332 
Portland OR 97293) This may be the first really potent 
antidote to those awful teen novels that are being 
manufactured by fake young authoresses on assembly lines. 





Road has created a new form, drawing from the raw aesthetics 
of zones, yet presenting the visuals and text with an exquisite 





crispness that should welcome anyone put off by look of 
smudgy, blurry Xerox zines, Her illustrations aren't necessary 
because her troubled but triumphant coming of age story is 
vivid enough by itself, but they are awesome and incredible 
and their frequency and presence make this book something 
really special 





The Inner Banks (Dag!) Can you please try to play your 
instruments gentler? 





The Inoculators “Dropped Their Brain” (inoculators.com, 
POB 352399 LA, CA 90035) Melodic punk that isn’t scared 
to ska it up, or trow in a Misfits “whoa whoa,” or to let the 
guitars fuzz and skuzz out 





Instant Funk “I Got My Mind Made Up - The Best Of 
Instant Funk" (Koch) One of the best Latin-tinged disco acts, 
Instant Funk were greatbecause they used the word “funk” in 
songs a lot, were produced by the great Bunny Sigler, and 
actually had a song called “Punk Rockin’,” that wasn’t punk 
at all, but had a few guitar solos. 





I Object “Teaching Revenge” (Alternative Tentacles) I 
Reject. The super fast generic punks stuff is great, but 
whenever they slow it up (as on the opening 3 tracks) they 






lose me. 
Ton “Arma” (ionband.com) I onerous, 


Ira “the body and the soil” (Go Kart) This guy sings like Nina 
Simone at her most miserable. Interesting choice. 


Iron Hero “Safe As Houses” (Ironhero.net) Tinny 


Iron Maiden “A Matter of Life and Death” (Sanctuary) I 
can't believe it, but this sucks. 


Irving “Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers” (eenie 
meenie pob 691397 la ca 90069) Jauntily creepy weirdo pop 
that isn’t quite pop but sure is catchy. 


ism “Monkey Underneath” (STM 382 Central Park West suite 
16T NYC 10025) Rarely is something so monkey-centric this 
joyless, 


The Itch “The Courage to be Hated” (Wee Rock Records 
POB 333 Springfield MO 65801) These angry scratch. 
appeasers rock like it’s nobody's business and make some 
genuinely nasty good sounds. And though their erudite song 
titles imply they went to college, I will not hold that against 
them 








I Would Set Myself On Fire For You “Believes In Patterns” 
(Stickfigure) | don't even know whatthis is? Eerie elevator 
music is the best I can figure. 

Jade “Banned In America” (ARG) I wish this wasn't bad but 
itis. 


Jai-Alai Savant Thunderstatement EP (Gold Standard Labs) 
Released as 2005 closed, this five-song EP offers a snap-tight 
delight for Sting fans dreaming of Andy Summers instead of 
blue turtles, While most songs show punk roots (think Fugazi 
and the Clash), the songs on this quartet's debut prove 
stranger by melding high pop aims, namely melody and song 
craft, With a mélange of groovy dub and post punk angularity 
Translation? These Chicago cats rock in a way that hipsters 
and their square siblings can agree is cool 








101 








Jandek “Newcastle Sunday,” “Glasgow Monday 
“Khartoum Variations,” “What Else Does the Time Mean?” 
“Glasgow Sunday" DVD (Corwood POB 15375 Houston TX 
77220) OK, two studio albums and a live album and DVD, If 
you think all his studio albums sound exactly the same than 
what do you care what I say about these releases? Or, 
conversely, if you are expecting something shockingly 
different, then I don’t want to dissapoint you by revealing 
what's on these many releases And sure, if you want to hear 
about the live CD and DVD he just released | could write 
about them. But instead, let's rap about JANDEK LIVE IN 
CHICAGO! I still can’t believe he played here...it 
amazing! I got to be right up front, in part because apparently 
all his fans are unaggressive, noticeably short, non-drinkers. 
And many wore hats. And I’m talking derbies and top It 
sorta looked like a Dr. Who convention, Some may critique 
Jandek for giving up the ghost-like existence of never 
appearing in public, but the beauty of his 3-D existence is that 
he has worked hard to create as much mystique in concert as 
on his records and CDs. The man shows up moments before 
he takes the stage and leaves immediately after (he has his 
pick up band get an amp for him and his guitar is in a gigbag 
with backpack straps so he can just strap on and mosey). He 
reads his lyrics off a music stand, and he never speaks 
between songs, nor does he ever look at the audience. He just 
takes the plays for close to two hours, and disappears. 
The absolute highlight of this particular concert was a 
humanizing moment where the mysterious veneer cracked. At 
one lull between songs an audience member, in his best 
Cheech and Chong voice, yells out, “Where you been, man!" 
To that Jandek couldn’t help laughing a little, and seeing the 
mystery man break into a broad grin, and reluctantly 
acknowledge the mass of Jandekians was priceless. In person 
Jandek looked healthy, but gaunt and a bit old (this look was 
due in part to the Hank Williams duds he was sporting). But 
when I checked out my photos of him he actually looked not 
only younger, but also exactly like those countless album 
cover photos that we had to speculate was him. Well it was 
him. And we saw him. And we love him, Viva Jandek! 
































Janez Detd “Like Cold Rain Kills a Summer Day” (I Scream) 
Why would you make awful, pandering mainstream radio 
“punk” and then give yourself an impossible to say or 
remember name? 


Jazz Shots From The East Coast, Vol, 1, Jazz Shots from the 
West Coast Vol. 1, Jazz Voice The Ladies Sing Jazz Vol 1 
&2 DVDs (MVD) There was a series of jazz DVDs o MVD 
not long ago that drew mostly from Soundies and Vitaphone 
musical shorts, as well as specialty numbers extracted from 
black cast movies. I really dug those. There's some of that on 
the Jazz Voices series (which leans a bit towards white pop-ier 
ladies, like June Christy, Anita O'Day, and the great Peggy 
Lee. But the bulk of these DVD performances draw from 
obscure TV shows (some must be from overseas) and are not 
as visually or historically exciting as film clips as some of the 
great jazz footage that exists. That said, musically there's 
some amazing stuff to hear here. Roland Kirk, Ahmad Jamal, 
Keith Jarrett and Duke Ellington are a pretty broad group of 
greats for the East Coast volume, West Coast smoothness + 
TV studios = not exciting, and even Chet Baker can’t beat 








that, but the Art pepper and Wes Montgomery sets are pretty 
interesting. 


Jetpack UK “The Art of Rebounding” (Heatstroke pob 4349 
Philly PA 19118) Poppier than eating popcorn and drinking 
pop while popping into Popeye's. 


JMK (Dontos jmkdontos.com, 3104 - 30 Ave Suite 280 
Vernon BC VIT 9M9) Zappa-esque multi-instrumentalist 
JMK gets weird as he wannabe ‘and demonstrates the 
versatility to be scary, serious, angry, funny, creepy and 
kooky at a flip of a toggle, 


John Ginty Band “Fireside Live” (Shark Attack) Multiple 
organ-gasms from the Robert Randolph Family band’s key 
uckler that is.funkier than it is jammy, but at 2 discs is too 
much, 


The Johns “In Tune” ep (Anko POB 1799 Costa Mesa, CA 
92628) There's nothing wrong with straight up, rockin’ bar 
punk, And there never will be. 


The Jonbenet “Ugly/Heartless” (Pluto, plutorecords.com) 
Abhhhh! 


Stone Jack Jones “bluefolk" (Fictitious) If you are stone 
jonesing for spare, powerful Americana with all the bullshit 
stripped sung in a calm, yet striking, voice, than plug into this 
Jack, 


JR and the Roadkill Choir “Old Family Recipe” Bluefish 
POB 1262 Franklin TN 37065) Funny, classic c&w 
cleverness and JR's nice voice make these tales of drinking, 
drinking, drinking and things that happened because he was 
drinking sound better than anything on Country radio today, 


Jukebox Zeros “Four on the Floor” (Steel Cage, 
steelcagerecords.com) Trashy Bowery-punk bar rock that 
doesn't get any of Johnny Thunders’ non-lethal lessons 
wrong. I've heard these dudes have torn up the City of 
Brotherly Hate for a while and if you want to get your 
personal Liberty Bell cracked play this CD as loud as your hi- 
fi cranks, Note: “Fun Suck” is about someone who sucks all 
the fun out of the room, not what you thought it was about. 


Jumpsuit “No Statue” b/w “School” (Make It or Break It 
makeorbreakrecords.com) This super fun band rocks this 
ditties absurdly, making these absurdities, 


G.X. Jupitter-Larsen + Allen Zane “Banjax” (Somnitage 
POB 24 Bradley IL 60915) The sound of the inside of a black 
hole. 


Justin: Secret of the Lifeform DVD (Victorvision Shorts) 
This short about a group of inner city teens shamed by their 
magnetic attraction to the music of Justin Timberlake features 
the best use of non-synch sound since John Water's Mondo 
Trash, 


Kaniget (Kaniget.com, 13547 Bessemer St. Van Nuys CA 
91401) Dark, strange rock music that made me think vampires 
were out to get me. 


Philip E. Karnats “Pleasesuite"” (Good Records, 
goodrecordsrecordings.com) Fill up on Philip if you dig 
diverse takes on arty punk/pop/rockambience/whatever, If you 
want (o hear something that changes lanes like a Manhattan 
cabbie this will satisfy your suite tooth. 


“Keep The Fuzz Off My Buzz” CD/DVD (Sickroom) This 
split CD/DVD features four bands, and the best is no doubt 
Paradise Island. By far. In fact, | wish it was just Paradise 
Island. The comedy is a little funny, though. 


The Kickbacks “Motel Stars” (Peeled Label 134 Stetson 
Ave. Swampscott MA 01907) Kicked my back and left a good 
ol’ American rock ‘n’ roll bootprint. 


“Kicksville! Vol. 4” (Norton) Norton's series of rocking, 
ridiculously good unearthed rockabilly acetates continues 
with an all-Dallas edition. Bobby Rambo is the main star here, 
and while one might argue (as my girlfriend does when we 
listen to obscure rockabilly or r&b) that he’s missing the an x- 
factor that seperates him from the dudes that really hit big, 
Rambo draws first blood here on a few true gems. When he 
sings “Dance to the Bop” it is simply a near-perfect rockabilly 
teen dance killer, and the raw, haunting “Your True Love” is a 
spooky masterpiece. And of course, these are supposed to be 
the tunes that didn't quite hit — that’s why they only made it to 


acetates. Thus, the best track here is “Honey Bunny Baby” by 
the Star Combo, a tune where some of the bunnies in the band 
are hopping a beat off the others, but the act captures 
everything great about the heart of hillbilly rock far better 
than a slick suburban rockabilly band in California laying 
down a perfect studio track, The key to this set is the inclusion 
of a ringer that you need to own. Gene Vincent, whose sound 
obviously ruled the region, is represented with “Hey Mama 
(Say Mama),” a track with the late, great, never sedate Ronnie 
Dawson on guitar. This ain’t one of those Rollin Rock 
Records Vincent shoulda-stayed unheard-ities, but rather a 
totally ace track that would make any mama merry. Overall 
this album is a gas, a totally necessary indulgence for any 
rockabilly cat or filly. 


Killing Joke “Hosannas From the Basements of hell” 
(Cooking Vinyl) A quarter century in Killing Joke is still 
making amazing music, with walls of guitar sound, ominous 
vocals, and genuinely creepy songwriting, This is some 
melodramazic magical mush here, and that's no Joke, 


Killing Moon “A Message Through Your Teeth” (Fearless 
11785 Cardiaal Circle Graden Grove CA 92843) Is this 
Skamo? Emo with a horn section, you know,..Skamo. 
Skamo? 











Nee+ Goat the goat, and Resty the Cat. Soar 
Will @nvy theit adventurocityness and what fe 
Kill the Vultures “The Careless Flame" (JIB Door POBox 
220426 Chicago, IL 60622) Why? 








The Kimballs “Number One” (DowBoy 24 Mill St, suite 317 
Patterson NJ 07501) Power pop-tinged indie rock with some 
great rock singing. Drove me Kimballistic! 


Kind of Like Spitting “one hundred dollar room" (Hush) I 
guess I’m old, but it seems like this just came out five minutes 
ago (it was actually five years) so reissuing is doesn’t seem 
like a big deal. 1 could dig back and find my original review, 
but I'm sure it was something mean like, “Kind of Like 
Boring,” so maybe it would be kinder to not do so. 


King-Cat Comics & Stories by John Porcellino, 3 Poems 
About Fog (Spit and a 1/2 POB 170535 SF, CA 94117) 
John's comix zine has passed a reasonable retirement age (it's 
on issue #66), but is more alive than ever. The marriage 
between his pure, spare, cartoonish lines and his 
straightforward, honest storytelling is the rare union that 
becomes more passionate as the long years pass. OK, that’s 
all the metaphors I have in me, Comic is good! The fog poem- 
comics fogged my mind with awesomeness! 


The Kingdom (Arena Rock) Beautiful music by beautiful 
people. 


King Dork by Frank Portman (Delacorte) The DaVinci Code 
meets pop punk, And actually makes sense this time. And is 
actually well written this time. 


King Khan & BBQ “What's For Dinner” (In The Red) In 
trashy garage-ish rock ‘n’ roll talent isn’t usually something I 
particularly value, But in the case of this duo it's something 
that’s undeniable. BBQ is one of the finest one man bands on 
earth, and his rich guitar playing and dynamic percussion are 
tremendous musical gifts. And Khan's songwriting, singing 


102 





and sexiness would make him an ideal America’s Got Talent 
contestant if he was, in fact, from America. This is one of my 
fave records of the year, and you know what's for 
dinner... genius! 


King Louie One Man Band “Chinese Crawfish” (Goner 
2152 Young Ave Memphis TN 38104) He is the actual king. 
No one rocks a one man band set up, and declares his loyalty 
to local shellfish, with the passion, intensity, damage, and 
danger of Louie. Best one man band LP since the 70s. 


Kites “Peace Trials” (Load records, loadrecords.com) It's 
noise chaos, then it’s pretty songs. It’s crazy, than it’s sane. 
Just like a real kite. 


Klee “Honey Suckle” (Minty Fresh) German chanteuse pop 
that was well-seasoned at home before hitting our shores in 
semi-translated form. As a Best Of featuring dance songs, 
edgy pop and pure prettiness this is really convincing, 
Especially when you consider that the Teutonic stereotype 
doesn't exactly leave the door open for music this sensitive 
and vulnerable. No Ilsa the She Wolf domination here, but 
dominating the Billboard charts is a distinct possibility. 


The Knights of Fuzz - The Garage & Psychedelic Music 
Explosion 1980 to Now DVD (Dionysus) This out of print 
garage rock guide returns in CD-ROM form wrapped in a 
DVD featuring a rudimentary documentary on contemporary 
rockers who like to be uncontemporary. And better yet, they 
shoehorn in a huge collection of video clips (some live 
performances, most actual music videos) by all your fave 
raves. The mighty Woggles, the great Girl Trouble, the genius 
Fortune & Maltese, and the gloriously ubiquitous Fuzztones 
are the highlights. To be honest | thought the genre got good 
around the late 80s/early 90s with bands like Untamed Youth 
(featured here) and the first wave of Estrus, and | was a little 
disappointed by early 80s acts like the Cynics and Vipers 
(both on this). But hell, seeing them all together in what 
would have been the best hour of MTV in history makes me 
dig ital. 


Knights of the New Crusade “A Challenge to the Cowards 
of Christendom” (Alternative Tentacles) Jello probably thinks 
this is a joke or a satire of Christian rock — maybe even some 
of the band members tell themselves that — but this is 
basically the best radical Chrisitian garage trash record ever. 
The rants against passive and hypocritical Christian music 
fans (not to mention the messianic and martyr complexes the 
band is burdened with) all seem as real as the blood on the 
cross, Not as great as their first album, but He had a bit of a 
sophomore slump with the New Testament, and that’s the 
most successful sequel of all time, so this could be a 
breakthrough for the armored saints, 


K-9 Cologne “Hard Artery II" (13303 Joan Dr Tampa FL 
33617) What a great songwriter! K-9 Cologne has slightly 
disturbing, strange little ditties that are SO percent bedroom 
outsider kook and fifty percent Brill Building novelty 
division. 


KI “The Kingdom" (Arena Rock 17 SE Third Ave #405 
Portland OR 97214) Deep voiced Bjork. 


Kultur Shock “We Came to Take Your Jobs Away” (Kool 
Arrow, koolarrow.com) This jamming janitor is Eastern 
Europeeing all over rock ‘n’ roll, Gospel, Latin music, and 
punk. 


Kyte “Outside In” (kytemusic.com) Country rock that flies 
my kyte! 


Labor Party “I Bleed” (Stee! Cage) What can you say about 
real rock ‘n’ roll? It rocks, it rolls, it busts out a harmonica 
when necessary! > 
Labtekwon “The Ghetto Dalai Lama v, 777” (Morphius) A 
revolutionary rap maestro with the skills of a laid back ninja. 


The Ladies “They Mean Us” (Temporary Residence) Two is 
the minimum amount of members for a supergroup, and by 
being from Pinback and Hella (fine bands but not exactly acts 
selling Clay Aiken-numbers) the “super” here is more about 
the superpowers of the drumming and songshaping than about 
the participants superstardom. Bathe in this Pop-Prog 
wackiness that is super enjoyable all the way through without 
ever getting too normal or too fucked. Beats scramble, sung 
words float around, some guitar part that could be a Police 
fragment or half a Cars hook evaporates before you can 








aurally grab it, and grooves groove into place without the aid 
of traditional gooviness. These dudes make awesome Ladies! 


Landlord “Glitterati” (landlordmusic.com) C-I-L-L_ my 
Landlord. 


Landspeedrecord! “Intermission” (Ambiguous City Records 


POB 31560 Baltimire MD 21207) Angular nuevo-wave-o 
music that rocks and pops like pop rocks. 


Jon Langford “Gold Brick” (ROIR POB 501 Prince Street 
Station NYC 10012) Langford has become a man known as 
much for his work ethic and prolificacy as his music, and 
that’s OK, Lots of Country artists used to put out an album 
every few months, and when you pick up a non-classic 
Johnny Cash or Dolly Parton LP form the 60s or 70s there's 
almost always a few gems on it. Plus they have the advantage 
of not being overfamiliar. This album reminds me of those 
records, as | don't see this collection as a masterpiece, but all 
the songs are pretty solid and a few really resonate. And 
nobody in rootsy music rolls their R's as lustily as Langford. 
Lansing-Dreiden “The Dividing Island” 
(Kemado/Hollywood) Too brilliant for my brain. 


La Pesta “Better Off La Peste” (Dionysus) La Pesta's track 
“Better Off Dead” is one of the best known collectible Boston 
punk 45s, and with its balance of poppy, nearly New Wave 
groove, and menacing, buzzing sens eof danger, it's easy to 
see why this is a good track to anchor your bootleg rarities 
punk comp. This collects everything they ever recorded, 
including some clean sounding (maybe too clean) home 
recordings and a long concert set with a nasty sound and 
except for some weird drum levels, a really amazing 
document of live American punk in the 70s. Nothing 
compares to othe one track you know but you would but that 
single for %50 in a second, so why not buy a full CD and get 
the backstory? 


La Pieta “Inside Out” (Contraphonic) Blah Pieta. 


Last Ditch Remedy “The Following” (Cake POB 1801 
Tacoma WA 98401-1801) Worst Ditch Disease. 


Greg Laswell “Through Toledo” (2700 Pensylvania Ave 
Santa Monica, CA 90404) He's not Laswell, he's 
LasGREAT! Now that’s what I call enchanting songeraft! 


Lawrence Arms “Oh! Calcutta!” (Fat) Perhaps Chicago's 
punkiest punk band, these dudes keep it snotty, angry, loud, 
and not-too-serious. This is their best record ever, and though 
they may not be innovators, they certainly seem to understand 
what makes simple, classic punk good better than most of 
their peers. 


Led Zeppelin - The Origin of the Species DVD (Sexy 
Intellectual) This is one of the better entries in this series of 
rock critics talk as TV footage rolls DVD documentaries. This 
is only covering the birth of Led, and it's fun to see film of 
pre-Zep bands and hear early pre-Zep records. It’s also a good 
forum to defend the band for borrowing, and though there;’s 
not much on the old time bluesmen who were pillaged, there's 
‘a great segment on the genesis of “Dazed and Confused” 
where the original folkie version by Jake Holmes is followed 
by a live version by the Yardbirds, eventually arriving at the 
‘one we know and love 


Rod Lee “Vol. 1: Operation Start-Up” (Morphius) Lee's 
chant-based rap music is like the Oi! Of hip hop! 


the left “jesus loves the left — the complete studio recordings” 
(Bona Fide, bonafiderecords.com) This amazing CD collects 
all the recorded work of the Left, a Maryland band that 
somehow came of punk rock age in the shadow of the Bad 
Brains/Minor Threat DC scene, but by 1984 managed to 
sound like they were from Detroit circa 1973. A couple of the 
songs almost have a slight hardcore sound, but played at the 
wrong speed with the wrong drum fills, wrong wailing guitar 
runs, and wrong vocal delivery. The band released two 
incredible 12” eps, with ridiculous punk rock cartoons on the 
covers (one of aliens destroying earth, one of the band beating 
up mullet-head Quiet Riot and Men at Work fans). They 
actually cover “TV Eye,” but the intense Stooges groove of 
their first song, “Hell,” is devastating, and is as original as it is 
derivative. Another amazing songs is about soap operas, and a 
stellar number is about gay hustlers sung and played almost 
exactly like Jayne County and her band. This is genuinely 
offensive (to the Vietnamese, AIDS sufferers, rednecks, and 
everyone else...in the cartoon where they beat up the 





Metalhead they leave a Klansman alone, seemingly having no 
problem with that dude) but it's perfectly punk rock offensive. 
Obviously this band doesn’t cleanly fit into punk history, but 
that I guess thatmakes them even punker. The most 
Midwestern band I've ever heard from the East Coast 


Legrand (Locomotive) LeGREAT! 


Les Aus “Haranna Hanne” (Ozono Kids POB 627 Manressa 
08240 BCN Spain) Austanding! Music made by mad moles! 


The Lesser Birds of Paradise “Space between” 
(Contraphonic POB 2203 Chicago IL 60690) Exquisitely 
crafted sonic atmospheres that permeate your cells with 
creepy beauty 


The Lil’ Hospital “Heavy Metal” (Total Gaylord Records, 
totalgaylordrecords.com) Lil’ happy spills of quirk-rock. 


Goat and Resty eniey a Sew of Conventional actvities 
Dut NooNe vents +heir Sickening Vacuum faciag prowess, 
Kama Linden (Mohican, kamalinden.com 3176 Decatur 
Avenue Apt SH Bronx NY 10467) Linden's bright, slightly 
breathy voice is really refreshing and charming, and when this 
singer-songwriter busts out a disco beat on the third track 1 
was ecstatic to hear a Jewel go Cher at the drop of a hat. 


Lindstrom “It’s A Fidelity Affair” (Smalltown Supersound, 
smalltownsupersound.com) Any dance music artist that is 
shameless in his love for disco and early 80s electronic no 
frills club records is a superstar in my book. If this Giorgio 
ever gets a Donna look out! 


The Little Killers “A Real Good One” (Gern Blandsten 
POBox 356 River Edge NJ 07661) L.E.S. Bowery-style rock 
‘n’ roll turned up to 11. I will never tire of Johnny thunders 
revivals and the fact that this one involves songs on par with 
JT's best | am far from complaining. 


The Little Ones “Sing song” (Branches) Little Ones have Big 
Ones...as in big balls of talent. Not just lovely pop — lovelier 


pop! 


Little Timmy Gets Bigger comic by Jon Sperry 
(jonsperry,com) A great comic by a promising artist that 
really messes with the form while being totally accessible. A 
little too freaky and weird at the end for little kids, but still 
pretty close to being the comic that balances the best aspects 
of underground comix and children’s books. 


Live Fast Die “Bandana Thrash Record” (Dead beat POB 283 
LA, CA 90078) Live Fast Die/VCR split single (Daggerman, 
daggermanrec@yahoo.com) Live Fast Die make 
RidiculousCore punk. Absurd, stupid, brilliant, silly songs 
jump from one trashy style to another, combining dumb 
lyrics, sick humor and brutal instrumentation. The single 
couples them with the upbeat, yet still somehow dreary, VCR. 


103 


Don Logan “Dreamland” (dandydonlogan.com, Cal Discs 
POB 9 Benton LA 71006) Logan writes and sings funny, 
endearing, classic country-style tunes in a winning, 
straightforward, bordering-on-outsider-musician voice 
Highlights here include a great song about riding a Harley to 
Heaven, the ballad of Hot Sauce Henri, and perhaps the best 
Sapphic song since “Hello, Lucille, Are You A Lesbian?” 


Lokbra “Army of soundwaves” (Lucid 665 Timber Hill Rd. 
Deerfield IL 60015) The Lokbest! Iceland is the new Mars, 
because this music is out of this world! 


Sam Lombardi “take your pic” (Bad Apple/BSRG POB 548 
DeFuniak Springs, FL 32435) Despite having a song about 
being young and stupid (and mentioning her young age 
several times in the lyrics) Samantha is young and sharp, and 
this CD with its slick production and nice vocals should 
appeal to rockish pop fans of all ages (all ages meaning 14 to 
24, but that's still a lot of people). 


Look At The Love We Found: LIVE A Tribite to Sublime 
(MYD) Sublime must have been really nice guys because | 
can't believe the tribute and love they are getting based on 
that one mediocre, posthumous LP. 


Loose Fur “Born Again in the USA” (Drag City) Half of 
Wilco and half of Gastr del Sol combine to become far more 
than some band named Gastco (though I think I bought some 
transmission fluid from a place called Gastco once). Basically 
this is ridiculously pleasant Country-ish (with more “ish” than 
“Country") pop that includes whistling. 


Lousy Robot “Smile Like You Are Somewhere Else” 
(Socyermom, lousyrobot.com) Midtempo melancholy music 
that’s poppy enough to make you happy to be sad. | think it 
would take a pretty good robot to make music like this. 


Chad Love “Speak No evol” (evolrecords.com 45 East 20" 
St. 9 FI NYC 10003, chadlove.com) Crazy bad rap that is 
actually so bad that I couldn't turn it off. Eac htrack has a 
girls singing a hook that makes the Black Eyed Peas hooks 
seem like Chaka Khan. The dance song about the September 
11" attacks is sort of confounding, The Dracula song sounds 
might have been a novelty record mde for a cable access 
Halloween special. A would be hit combines oompah 
loompahs, 50 Cent and bar mitzvah jokes. Maybe this is 
actually absolutely brilliant, But I am just confused 


Ian Love (Limekiln) Introspective pop recorded with (if this 
is possible) subtle lushness. 


Love Dolls Superstar Fully Realized DVD (We Got 
Power/Eclectic) The directors cut of the mid-80s sequel that 
no one asked for but everyone needed. Desperate Teenage 
Lovedolls Iisa strange return to the L.A. underground for the 
rockin’ ladies, their rivals, and cohorts, and incredibly, this 
movie may make less than sense than the original. More 
incredibly the music is twice as good. Fans of Redd Cross, the 
Bangles, taking acid, chaos, and hookers should not miss this, 


The Loved Ones “Keep Your Heart” (Fat) Yearning 
sweetheart songwriter music hidden inside some driving punk 
rock sounds. 


The Love Drunks (Alive) The flavor of inbred hillbilly punk 
mixed into a batter of brainy Velvets and Dylan inspired 
songwriting. Or vice versa. © 


Love Equals Death Nightmerica” (Fat) Loved it to death! 


The Love Letter Band “Fear Not My Brothers, Fear Not My 
Sisters, For | Have Seen the Future/..." (HHBTM, 
hhbtm.com) I also love letters, but not when they spell things 
this precious and boring. 


Love Story in Blood Red (backwardmaskingrecords.com) 
This musically diverse, really engaging album hits like a 
boxer wit really powerful singing that strains and bends to 
achieve a feeling of intimate fragility. 


lovingannabelle DVD (Wolfe) What's the difference 
between erotica and porn? Well, after this I know it’s not the 
acting or the writing. I guess the fact that there’s almost no 
sex in this pseudo-erotic tale of forbidden love between a 
Catholic boarding school teacher and her hot, rebellious 
student would be where the divergence occurs. Now what's 
the dif between lesbian erotica for men and lesbian erotica for 


women? Well the one scene of hetero sex in this flick presents 
it as a torturous burden for the woman, which I doubt is in 
most of the girl-on-girl videos purchased from hustler.com. 
But make no mistake, this is a terrible movie. 


The Lowbrow Reader (243 West 15" St. #3RW NYC 10011) 
Reading about comedy in this brilliant zine is more fun and 
funnier than anything on the comedy channel — and that 
includes that movie they always play where Dan Aykroyd is 
an escaped mental patient conman who pretends to be a radio 
psychiatrist and hooks up with Walter Matthau as a begging 
klepto priest. 





Johnny Lowebow “Banned on Beale,” Live Flying 
Monkey” (just go to his store in Memphis and buy these at 
Xanadu 2220 Central Ave Memphis TN 38104, or email 
bevlowe@bellsouth.net) Lowebow is just about the most 
passionate one man band in America, and if you go to his 
store in Memphis you can buy custom Lowebow cigar box 
electric guitars and he just might play a one man band show 
for you ~ and he is a one man rockin’ riot! Solo multi- 
instruments have a future with men like this in the 
drummers’ /guitarists/whatever else's seat! 

Lower Class Brats “The Seditionaries” (TKO) Pure class. 
And by “class” | mean that this CD of driving, nasty strret 
punk will give you genital crabs just by listening to it. 


The Low Lows “Fire On The Bright Sky” (WARM POB 
1423 Athens GA 30603) No Nos. 


Low Skies “And the Love I Could Find” (Flameshovel 1658 
N. Milwaukee #276 Chicago IL 60647) Disturbing story- 
songs performed with eerie creepiness. And not Tales from 
the Crypt story eeriness, but more like Tales from the Suicide 
Hotline story eeriness, 


Lylas “Lessons For Lovers” (Fictitious 74 The Arcade 
Nashville TN 37219) Quirky quiet pop so real and sincere and 
clever and cool they should be called Truthlas! 


The Madeira “Sandstorm” (Double Crown) If Dick Dale and 
Morricone were songwriting partners this songs ar ethe scores 
that would have scored, 


The Mad Dukes “The Mad Dukes Sing and Play For You” 
(Rippyfish pob 1964 SLC, UT 84110) Maddle of the road. 


Mad Tea Party “Big Top Soda Pop” (MadTeaParty.com) 
Ukulele is the new theremin! Yoy know what I always say, 
uke it or lose it! 


Magik Markers “A Panegyric to the Things | Do Not 
Understand” (Gulcher) Magikal? 


Make Up “Untouchable Sound - LIVE!"(Drag City) 
Nostalgia for the best minstrel show rock band of the 90s is 
quenched with this concert album from 2000. 


Mannequin Man “Showbiz Witch” (Swamp Angel, 
swampangelrecords.com) So awesome they should be called 
Mannequin Gods! 


Mathias Manser “Home?” (Manser's Garage, 
mansermusic.com) Dramatic delivery and rich songwriting 
make Matias the man! 


Marconi Union “[{Distance]” (All Saints/Rykodisc) Marconi 
Snooze-ion a 
Marillion “marbles live” (Intact) A steaming live helping of 
the most passive Prog ever created. 


Marlene by Peter Snejberg (Slave Labor Graphics) A wealth 
of anti-erotic gruesome monster sex art violence crime action 
makes this amazing graphic story one of the best comics of 
the year. 


“Mas Rock n Roll - The Best of the Electro Harmonix 
Label” (Munster) Twenty-six tracks of Spanish language 60s 
tock that is simply mindshaking. Everything is ust a little 
rawer, a bit tinnier and a touch cooler than your previous 
favorite record that it sounds like. And with band names like 
Los Monstruos, Los Sinners, Los Grimm, Los Electronicos 
And Bat Boys you can't go wrong. My biggest complaint is 
the almost criminal lack of liner notes - -who are these 
bands!?! This label has been reissuing 60s records from 
Uruguay, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Columbia and elsewhere, so 
no telling where these bands are from, but they sure are good. 


Matchheads “Backtracks 1980-1982,” “The Matchheads 
Present The Mohawks, Lucky Strikes, The Gassers, 1981- 
1985." (Matcheadsetc.com) Two CDs of awesomely stupid 
punk rock from San Francisco in the early 80s. If you are 
expecting intense hardcore think again, these guys couldn’t 
play that hard or fast or well and wouldn't want to because 
then they couldn't be this goofy or juvenile or silly. Songs 
about William Holden meeting Rin Tin Tin and Freddie 
Prinze in heaven, Japanese MILFs, Pez, and “mud on my 
pud” are not exactly Black Flag material, and that’s a 
blessing. Because sometimes punk is just supposed to be 
stupid as-hell, as these ultra obscuro Killed By Deathers make 
so stupidly clear. 





Maximum Penalty “Demo 89 & East Side Story EP” (1 
Scream) In the brutal meathead NYC hardcore scene 
Maximum Penalty actually could be seen as one of the more 
gentle, nuanced bands, especially as this reissued demo 
demonstrates. Vocalist Jim Miller sings with aggression but 
when he does instead of regressing into animalistic barks, his 
husky voice actually becomes almost reedy, with a distant 
relationship to HR's vox. His melodic sense of phrasing owes 
more debt to rappers than to hardcore forefathers. Though I” 
sure they would disagree, the low budget demo allows the 
music to be less than overpowering, making it more powerful 
as you can really hear and feel it. 
_ 






Recty's motto: oat No trast Bow Goes} be tiest 
Wes McDonald “1:50 in the Furnace” (Skybucket) 
McDonald plays Americana pop music that that is both 
smooth in delivery but rough around the edges enough to 
seem authentic and heartfelt. This album also features the 
only Star Wars reference I've ever heard in a serious, grown- 
up love song, “Like Princess Leia, from R2D2, you know 
you're my only hope...” 





M Coast “Say It In Slang” (HHBTM POB 742 Athens GA 
30603) This album of slightly odd, detail heavy lyrics and 
precious but still somewhat edgy music peaks o the first song 
which is sung by a enchanting breathy female voice. The less 
breathy dude vox that takes over is OK, and the chanteuse 
returns later, so despite a premature musical ejaculation, if 
you are a chanteuseaphile you likely need this. 


Gwen McRae “Rockin’ Chair/Let’s Straighten It Out” (Koch) 
“Rockin’ Chair” (co-written by Blowfly himself in Clarence 
Reid mode) is one of the best R&B songs of the 70s, and 
McRae’s fantastic voice combined a sexy smoothness with a 
few vocal tricks straight out of a Bobby “Blue” Bland juke 
joint performance. This CD contains two albums (the second 
includes the title tune, her great cover of Lattimore’s classic). 
This is fantastic music from an era of black music where 
artists were really starting to make music for adults, and the 
songwriting, delivery and sexiness of these tracks is 
outstanding. 


Me and Him Call it Us “Loss” (Stickfigure POB 55462 


Atlanta GA 30308) Like being continuously shot with a gun 
full of screeching rock birds. 


104 


Mean Zine Submarine by Herbie Meyer ($2 ppd, pob 106 
Danville, OH 43014) This zine is by a 5-year old second- 
generation zinester, and it features drawings, short stories, an 
x-ray of Herbie’s teeth and a linoprint cover. Honestly, this is 
way better than the majority of zines by 15, 25, 35 and 65 
year olds. 


The Meat Purveyors “Someday Soon Things Will Be Much 
Worse!” (Bloodshot 3039 W. Irving Park Rd. Chicago IL 
60618) If you like to purvey the kind of meat you kill with 
buckshot and if you like that meat to be varmint, and if you 
like to listen to the kind of music that twangs to the point of 
breaking, and if you genuinely like country music, meat your 
favorite band. 


The Meeting Places “numbered days"(words on music 715 
University Avenue SE #201 MPLS MN 55414) Guitar swirls 
and dream-guy vocals make this an indie-pop romantic 
weekend must-have. 


Meg & Dia “Something Real” (Doghouse, 
doghouserecords.com) This is the kind of music that would be 
on ina teen drama and ‘d think, “kids like this?” 


Rose Melberg “cast away the clouds” (Double Agent) The 
divine Ms. M has far to dreamy and voice, especially when 
coupled with gentle, slightly odd, unique instrumental 
backing, for me to sit here and review, Just let me float in 
dreams for a while... 


Dan Melchior “Fire Breathing Clones on Cellular Phones” 
(Plastic Records PO 1385 NY NY 10156) Though he sounds 
nothing like Paul from M.O.T.O. that's the best comparison I 
can come up with, as both songwriters seem to have a weird 
knack for making raw sounding, perfectly composed songs 
that seem to speak volumes despite the ragged, lo-fi sound. 
The difference is that Melchior does not come off a simple 
man with a knack for the tockmaking; he's a poet (though 
according to one lyric on’this, that means he has to hang out 
with robots or something) and a clever man. | liked his In The 
Red records, but this is a huge step forward, and fans of 
listening to songs should pick this up, 


Mercy Killers/Enemy Rose split CD (1 Scream, 
iscreamrecords.com) Mercy Killers act all Clash, but there's 
an element of Smiths-in-Mohawks to them. Enemy Rose look 
like Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers but sounds 
like... Johnny thunders and the Heartbreakers with a cold. 


The Merry Widows “Revenge Served Cold” (Cargo) 
Apparently this excellent spooky psychobilly is performed by 
five ridiculously tough broads. On the CD sleeve they 
combine red pumps, black fishnets, green tattoo ink, and 
metallic weaponry. Any lady who breaks the black 
fishnets/black gun rule has to be pretty tough, Unless it was 
after Labor Day. 


“Messthetics Greatest hits - The Sound of D.I.Y. 1977-80" 
(Hyped to Death P.O. Box 351 Westminster MA 01473) This 
collects post-punk (as in after punk, not as in sounding like 
Wire) ultra indie UK recordings from the singles and cassettes 
scene that was sort of the equivalent of the in die bedroom 
recording scene in the U.S. in later years. These lo-fi pop 
songs can be quirky odes to erotic potato eating (Mud 
Hutters), a girl on the bus (Thin Yoghurts) or a bouncy pro 
Malcolm McLaren ditty (O Level). Some of these are actually 
pretty punk, some are delightfully dreary, some are so poppy 
it makes you teeth hurt, and some have some serious art 
pretensions. But they all were super d.i-y., John Peel dug 
them, the hyped to Death label appreciates the, and now you 
can too, 


Metalux & John Wiese (Load POBox 35 Providence RI 
02901) This CD declares that progressive noise explosion 
music will never cross over into the mainstream. 


Michael Zapruder’s Rain of Frogs “new ways of letting go” 
(Howells Transmitter 2839 24" St SF, CA 94110) A bit too 
precious in his genius-osity, Lighten up, dude 


Milky Ways (Alive) Trashy Canadian garage rock that 
actually milked me, if you know what | mean! 


Milman-Brignall Enigma “Bafflemania™ 
(Florence/lightintheattic.net) I couldn't follow the sotry, but 1 
was still caught up in the lush sitar and mellotron-driven 
psyché/rock/jazz/comedy/story songs. One listen and you'll 
have Bafflemaniamania. 





Mind Controls (Dirtnap) Canadian garage one man abnd 
BBQ sauce is smothered all over full-band New Wave power 
pop punk rock, and the meat tastes so good you will eat 
yourself sick! 


The Minks “Plaything” ep (Steel Cage) Trash rock is 
supposed to be super awesome and totally suck at the same 
tiem, resulting in dumb songs you don’t feel guilty about 
loving dumbly! This hits on all dumb cylinders! 


Minmae “le grand essor de !a maison du montre” (Greyday 
POB 2086 Portland OR 97208) Minmagical! 


Minor Leagues “The Pestilence Is Coming” 
(Datawaslost.net) What an upbeat pestilence song! | love 
pestilence now! 


Minutes Too Far “Let It Roll” (Band 1415 Chapin St. #201 
WDC 20009) Pop Rock so down to business they should 
shorten the description to Prock! 


Miranda Sound “Western Reserve” (Sunken Treasure, 
mirandasound.com) Make-you—happy music that doesn't 
make you happy by asking you to be stupid. 


Miss Derringer “Lullabies” (Sympathy) Liz McGrath, who 
may or not be the Miss D of the band name, sings these 
moody, enchanting, dramatic Bad Seeds/bad girl/bad driving 
inspired slices of sad pop with a voice that makes you scared 
to love her, but you just can’t help yourself, 


Jeff Mitchell “Batteries and Blankets” (dpg POB 3690 
Minneapolis MN 55408) Emo Phillips vocal-styled’ singer 
songewriter music is only slightly more scary than Gilbert 
Gottfried vocal-styled hip hop. 


Moby “Go: The Very best of Moby” (V2) This guy should 
think about trying to place some of these songs in 
commercials, they're pretty catchy. 


Moccasin “Last Leaf” (moccasinmusic.com) Shoegazer + 
Stoner Rock = Stonegazer. 





The Modern Machines “Take It, Somebody!" (Dirtnap 2615 
SE Clinton St, Portland OR 97202) Twangy power pop with 
grown up voice 9husky instead nasal) that made me shake all 
parts. And then repeat. 


Modwheelmood “enemies & immigrants” (Buddyhead 
POBox 1268 Hollywood, CA 90078) Electronicute. 


Moistboyz “Live Jihad" DVD (MVD) Nasty! 


The Molten Rectangle magazine (too cool to have an address) 
‘This film journal is revolutionary because it presents a dozen 
brilliant young film theorists who magically express their 
ideas in a page or two each. I'd love to read Cahiars du 
Cinema, but who has the time? Now I can read a whole 
journal quicker than Kurt Vonnegut’s cameo in Back to 
School. 


Mondo Topless “Take It Slow" (Get Hip) Now that’s a party! 


Mon Frere “Blood Sweat and Swords” (Cake pob 1801 
Tacoma WA 98401) Mon Frere is French for “awful music.” 


The Monkey Power Trio “Hacking Through the Tentacles of 
Despair,” “Spiders in the Bloodstream” (PSMR POB 980301 
Ypsilanti MI 48198) Every year these monkeys get meaner. 
Tales of Johnny Cash, Spiders, TV, and robots mark these two 
singles as dangerously delusional and worthy of government 
intervention. Monkeys and power are a bad combination. But 
these are some kickass songs. 


Monorail/People Chasing People “Visit Pellmell” 
(Milquetoast 7753Apple Tree Circle Orlando FL 32819) 
These two bands are the same four guys with the same rhythm 
section, but the vocalist and guitarist swapping proverbial 
chairs. | know what you're thinking: they just want to get two 
shares of the door at gigs, the Beatles and KISS and the 
Monkees swapped vocals too, but they were just one band 
each. Or were they? Obviously this band raises many music 
ethics debates, but do they raise any actual music worth 
discussion? YES! Absolutely lovely, infectiously catchy 
pretty pop with rich production and total indie-osity. That 
description holds for “both” bands, and though PCP is 
supposed to be harder and heavier (judging by the RIYL on 
the | sheet) they're not. Which is good. 


gs eee 





Mon Roe (Locomotive) Swedelicious! 


Monsieur Leroc “I’m not young but I need the money” 
(Cornerstone R.A.S.) Groovy enough, but just enough. This 
substitutes futuristic for funk a little too much and while I dug 
it and would listen to the next record, I would not call this my 
jam, and this is music you are supposed to losten to and say, 
“that's my jam!" : 


Monsteria DVD (www.omna.com) Your brain will literally 
explode... literally...if you watch this incredible computer 
animation collagexplosion that combines 10,000 80s Saturday 
morning cartoon images with 10,000 porn clippings 
combining in an hour (actually 28 minutes, plus the words 
“the” and end” animated for 32 glorious minutes) of chaos. 
This will either kill an epileptic or cure him. Note: One of the 
zillion images used is a Roctober cover, so | feel semi- 
responsible for the inevitable divorces, suicides and 
bankruptcies this DVD will no doubt cause. 


Morning 40 Federation “Ticondegra” 
(morning40federation.com) Sleazy+rock+funk +Sirunk! 


Elliot Morris “What's Mine is Yours” (Universal) Elliot 
Bore Us. 





Goat and Reety Walda'+ Mabie onext Star Commanders, 
They Can't get a good gnA on things 


Morrissey “Ringleader of the Tormentors” (Attack, 
sanctuaryrecords.com), The Smiths “Under Review" DVD 
(Sexy Intellectual) This is a good time to not be a Smiths fan 
Or more specifically, these two releases make this a good time 
for a non-Smiths fan to actually dig the Smiths. | have always 
liked Morrissey in theory. His weird beauty, his “celibacy,” 
his legion of devoted, fey fans bringing flowers for him to 
concerts, his own sentimental fandom (demonstrated by his 
Elvis photo album cover, his New York Dolls obsession, etc) 
and even his shapely hair all seem great to me. But that voice, 
ugh! I just can't listen to the way he sounds as he sings those 
lyrics that are just long sentences that don't rhyme and 
describe dreary things that sound worse when delivered in his 
sing-songy phrasing. Ugh, | say. But upon viewing this DVD 
and listening to his new release I’m inclined to be a bit fonder 
of the dapper dude. The “Under Review” disc may be the best 
release in this series of music critics talking/archival videos 
playing DVDs, On the one hand, seeing the early Smiths as 
Spice Girls-like pop stars doing British TV shows puts them 
in a perspective that's far less pretentious and far more 
endearing. More importantly, to a man every rock critic on 
this thing demonstrates the way you are supposed to praise the 
Smiths without seeming gay: you ignore Morrissey and 
pretend you mainly love them for Johnny Marr's awesome 
guitar playing. That I can do. A Smiths-head superfan friend 
of mine assured me that Morrisey’s new solo CD was his 
most accessible yet, and that may be the case, as I did like this 
more than any I’d heard previously, Some of these tracks even 
kind of rock, and more importantly, some of them are kind of 
hopeful and happy...the celibate appears to be getting some 
Oh, there's certainly that singing and those sentences and 
some miserable narratives, but | actually found myself 
humming some of these happy-sounding slices of horribleness 


105 





long after I left the disc, and the upbeat stuff really stayed 
with me. My same friend who recommended this also assured 
me that Morrissey’s new old guy look is definitely on 
purpose, and that seems pretty cool too. Frankly Mr Morrissey 
you won me over! 


The Moschops DVD (Victorvision Shorts) An animated look 
at a prehistoric species who may not have had access to ipods. 
tools or ears, still had a sensitive sout and tneder disposition 


Thee Moths “nature” (Banazan) More like annoying flies. 


Motion Picture Demise “ZIP.BOOM.HAH” (Orange Peal 
orangepeal.com) This band has such potent licks n’ riffs, not 
to mention the perfect pseudo-Brit snarl vocals, that they put 
my picture in motion, if you know what | mean, And | mean 
they gave me an erection. 





Mouse On Mars “Varcharz” (Ipecac) The new apex of 
Rodent Rock. 


Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects “Listen Up” (Sweet 
Nothing/Cargo) You can't fake quirky 


Muck and the Mires (1234 (Dionysus) Garage-icana that | 
can't believe isn’t from the Midwest, because this is 
Romantics-esque and really heartfelt and perfectly rocking in 
ways that the Coasts usually can't capture. But I guess if you 
ain't at Harvard Boston is a real people town, too, Put this on 
at your party and just let the magic happen. 





The Mugshots (Lombroso) Brilliant dark music that goes 
beyond goth to bring you an audio horror film that will give 
you nightmares for months. 


Mule Train “The Worst Is Yet To Come” (Beat 
Generation/Munster) This pummeled my mule into mulejuice 


Multiple Cat “The Secret of the Secret of” (Future Appletree 
POB 191 Davenport IA 2805) Pawgazing and whisker 
bobbing. 


Munkey Juice “Fatty Arbuckle’s Coke Bottle” (Choose to 
Lose, munkeyjuice.net) Munkey poop. 


“Music To Make Your Ears Hurt Trey” (Black and Blue 
POB 410325 Cambridge MA 02141) One of the only comps 
where every band sounds different, original and out of 
fucking control. WMFO (Without Mother Fucking Order) 
from St. Louis, Denmark's Cherry Bomb and our good friend 
Bloody F, Mess are the standouts on this killer sampler 


Mustang Lightning “Texas Voodoo Surf” 
(mustanglightning.com) Surf music nastiness that’s like 
surfing in sewage....and liking it 


The Mustangs "Riverside Garage Legends...and that's for 
sure!" (UT Records 3707 Fifth Ave # 145 San Diego, CA 
92103) Ugly Things records strikes again! No doubt, if you're 
much of a fan of wailin' teen Garage Punk sounds from the 
60s, you've heard and love The Mustangs’ classic gurl put- 
down "That's For Sure" on "Back From The Grave.” Mad 
Mike Stax, the dedicated Lost Soul behind Ugly Thingy 
magazine and record label, has taken Gray and Toody with 
him on a dig deep into the vaults, and uncovered a whole 
album's worth of unreleased killers from this revered 
Riverside, California Punk combo. If you'll bear in mind that 
a majority of these tracks are covers of the day, you should be 
surprised at what a strong showing such young cats made with 
somewhat obvious material. Their “Gloria” is one of the 
tuffest I've known (barring the original by Them, of course, 
and a live version I was priveleged to hear recently by the 
recently reformed Alarm Clocks, who also warped our 
sensibilities via "Back From The Grave"). "Liar. Liar" is 
almost better than the original, and Ike and Tina's “It's Gonna 
Work Out Fine" is pulled off with lots of snarl and menace, 
and they managed to smooth out all the awkwardness of doing 
a male, solo version of a song written as a duet for a man and 
a woman (whatta woman, too! Woo! Woo!). Their version of 
"I'm Down" sounds like you're being beat up. Whereas 
McCartney could really do his thing with a three-verse, Little 
Richard-styled screamer, this version repeats every verse a 
second time, and they still sound game for more! Some of the 
better versions of "All Day and All of The Night" can be had 
here, too. The Mustangs were like a lot of other young bands 
of the day, playing basic, straightforward, in-yer-face, Rock 
n’ Roll, but, their attitude set them apart from a lot of their 
competition. As of recently, the band has re-emerged, and will 
hopefully be able to hit the festival circuit with the likes of 


The Alarm Clocks, Zakary Thaks, Kenny and The Kasuals, 
and others. If they're too old, YOU'RE TOO LAME. 


Narc! zine ($50, POB 820102 Portland OR 97282) In 
Portland instead of executing retarded maniacs they let them 
make zines. Best-takes-2 minute-to-read zine ever! 


Nardwuar the Human Serviette “Doot Doola Doot 
Doo, ,.Doot Doo!” DVD (Alternative Tentacles) Nardwuar 
the Human _Serviette vs. Bey Davis calender 
(Nardwuar/Mint, mintrecs.com) There's a lot of goofs and 
funnyguys and pranksters and Stuttering John-types that do 
goofy celebrity interviews, or have goofy voices, or goofy 
clothes, or a “weird” perosna, but they are all posers. 
Nardwuar is the king of what he does (genuinely strange 
interviews with celebrities) because he is the real deal. That's 
his voice, those are his clothes, and those are his questions 
The key to what makes his conversations/attacks (in the good 
sense) on Snoop Dogg, Destiny’s Child, Gene Simmons, 
Gorbachev, Vanilla Ice, Michael Moore, Marilyn Manson and 
millions more so good is that he isn’t crafting jokes or insults 
to hurl at them, rather he is doing intense, bizarre research 
about them, bringing out-of-left-field props to stimulate topics 
and generally being a better journalist than anyone on MTV. 
A Nardwuar interview is actually incredibly valuable and 
revealing for two reasons. One is that you actually learn 
something about the interviewee, as their history and odd, 
obscure fact are tabled, leading them to offer answers that you 
don’t read in the countless sources that parrot the same three 
questions over and over. More importantly, Nardwuar can be 
kind of annoying and weird, and thusly, is a barometer of a 
celebrity's actual coolness. If they are dismissive or abusive 
of this eccentric, or if they get annoyed and their true 
character rises to the surface, you realize that they are actually 
assholes. If they are cool with him, and really get into it that 
speaks volumes about their character, This double DVD/jam 
packed booklet set contains at least 10,000 hours of Nardwuar 
footage, including scores of interviews, music videos by 
Nardwuar's own bands, Nardwuar interviewing himself, a 
section about Nard’s health scare a few years back, and some 
ridiculous audio commentary. This is literally too much, and 
you'll be glad for the excess. He is the only man that can 
make Slayer, Blowfly and Beyonce all funny. In other Nard 
news...the calendar is SO GOOD! If it were only Davis’ 
unbelievable punk photos of everyone from Adam and the 
Ants to Black Flag to the Avengers to Johnny Thunders to 
Canuck heroes D.O.A. and Subhumans this would be the best 
date keeper of the year ('07), but Nardwuar's exhaustive 
interview with Bev that runs in the margins makes this a 
masterpiece. 


The Nazi Dogs “Chase the Man" (TKO 8941 Atlanta Ave 
#505 Huntington Beach CA 92646) This German band plays 
classic trash punk sung in strangely proper American English 
and infused with monosyllabic manifestos about drugs, 
bombs, hopelessness, and Devo-love. In other words, the most 
awesome Nazi-named band in years! 


Neanderthals “in Space” (Munster) The Neandertahls are 
Eddie Anget’s novelty act. That's right, you heard me correct. 
A man whose other two bands (Planet Rockers and Los 
Straitjackets) respectively pretend it's 1958 and dress as surf- 
rock Mexican wrestlers has an act that would be considered 
his novelty band. And they reason that is so is that the 
Neanderthals (in addition to dressing in Flintstones costumes) 
pay tribute to the glorious legacy of the last five decades of 
novelty rock. This set of all spaced-out interstellar songs 
makes that goal clear, as they pay tribute to Dementoid music 
of yore with covers of “Martian Hop" and “Purple People 
Eater,” not to mention an out of this world take on “Beep 
Beep.” Mix in a few awesome surf garage originals and goofy 
covets of the originally not quite as goofy music of John 
Lennon and David Bowie and you have a record that'll shuttle 
you into the stratosphere! 








The Nebulas (Double Crown) Outer space surf rock that’s out 
of this world! | always thought surf music was more about 
distant galaxies than catching waves anyhow because the 
Ventures album about space was better than anything I ever 
heard about surfing 


The Negatones—S/T (Skylab Recordings) Rock guys who 
know music and know rock production equals party rock 
album. That's the short story. This Brooklyn quartet tears 
through the musical highlights of the 20th century in 12 
songs. Banjo comes: backed by a studious metal guitarist 
channeling Bach, Beck gets a congo slapback while the 
Stones give their best "Oooooh, oooohs" on "The Godfather." 
Their production skills—some of the band moonlight as 


producers for the Fiery Furnaces, The Stills and the 
like—make this mish mash work even when transitions 
between genres are neck-snappingly abrupt. Still, it doesn't 
quite come together, proving the old chestnut that you get the 
songs first then you get the talent. 


The Never “Antarctica” (trekkyrecords.com) Left me cold. 


New Grenada “Modern Problems” (Contraphonic POB 2203 
Chicago IL 60690) There's a song on this about some chump 
that explodes like a can of pop clamped into a hardware store 
paint mixer, but there’s also a sing about being sick that 
floated around like a tattered plastic bag avoiding tree 
branches. And those, my friends, are similes, 


New London Fire “I Sing the Body Holographic” (Eyeball) 
More fizzle than fire. 








laghioack: Resty becomes Goats best fiend, Sollewiny the 
“GEOR MONSTER, rescue debacle’ APter a meine use oF 
“laser eye beams” Grit i forced to Surrender *beslle flight” 
New Salem Witch Hunters (Get Hip) This is a reissue of the 
decade old debut, of ohio’s best garage band, and quite 
frankly, the best act on Get Hip. Sorry, Cynics, but these 
Hunters bagged me. 


Joanna Newsome “Ys” (Drag City) Should be named Joanna 
Awesome! 


Nina by Blag Dahlia (Scapegoat), “Nina,..and other delights” 
(MVD) Despite being an evil, presumably venereal disease 
tidden, definitely chaos instigating misfit, Dahlia of the 
Dwarves has always demonstrated intelligence, articulacy, 
and a profound understanding of how much good will come 
of his excessive badness. Not surprisingly this sexy novel 
(and its sister CD, an excerpted audio book,’ of sorts) is 
joyously naughty. Nina herself is a literary character you will 
love on the page but would fear on the street, To be honest, | 
can only think of one or two Dwarves songs that even vaguely 
hint at the writing prowess demonstrated here, and that's the 
way it should be. A true evil genius knows there's a time for 
stupid. When he wrote this book was not one of those times. 


1986 “nihilism is nothing to worry about” (palentine) Should 
be called LSGREATysix! 


Niobe “White Hats” (Tomlab) Electronical World music for 
Tron to listen to on the Public Radio station inside Tron-land. 


NOFX “Never Trust a Hippie,” “Wolves in Wolves Clothing” 
(Fat) Fuck you if you disagree, but NOFX rule. Sure, they are 
responsible for a million shitty bands that tried to sound like 
them, but that doesn’t make them any less funny or rocking. 
In a rare quote by me from Vice magazine (they were 
forgiving Slint) you can’t blame the first band that ruins 
music, just the followers. 


Nomeansno “all roads lead to Ausfahrt” (AntAcidAudio POB 
1778 Orinda CA 94563) The second greatest Canadian punk 
rockers of all time continue to keep the Viletones in third 
place by releasing another solid album, with booming vocals, 


106 


thundering drums and powerful lyrics that may or may not be 
absurdly funny or may or may not be the most serious things 
anyone has ever sung to you, 


None More Black “ 
Rocking! 


This Is Satire” (Fat) None More 


Norfolk & Western “A Gilded Age,” “The Unsung Colony” 
(Hush) Locomotive buffs will be disappointed that this isn’t 
the train-rock themed band the name suggests, but if said 
buffs dig ambitiously artsy, atmospheric story songs perhaps 
they wont be disappointed. 


November Coming Fire “Dungeness” (Reflections) 
Youknow what puts out a Novemebr coming fire? A cold 
November rain 


NRBQ “Froggy’s Favorites Vol 1” (EDISUN, NRBQ.com) 
This double CD set includes roughly 700 live tracks by the 
livest live band in history, Spanning from '79 thotugh °99, the 
only jam band that matters jampacks this website-sales only 
(buy at nrbg.com) treat with songs about encyclopedias, 
rockin’, the ladies, aa metaphorical magnet anda hammer. Of 
course, like Shellac, Elvis when he was under the influence, 
and Paul Stanley solo, you go to an NRBQ concert for the 
banter, and here you not only get chatter, fun facts, a magic 
trick/request segment, a ghost story and funny voices. A 
bargain at any price 





Numbers/adult split 7” (Kill Rock Stars) These two bands 
take electronic instruments simultaneously to caveman 
hitting-obelisks-with-bone days and to jetpack and food pellet 
days, 


Oakley Hall “Gypsum Strings” (Brah 1499 West 2" St 
Bloomington IN 47403) Hall yeah! This is just a great slab of 
American roots Couniry-tinged rock ‘n’ roll played and 
composed with a sense of experimentation and a /ot of skillz. 


Amy Obenski “Kite” (amyobenski.com 407 Chilverton St 
Santa Cruz, CA 95062) Amy isn't a crunchy granola 
coffeehouse-type singer songwriter, but more a return to the 
type pf vocalists of the 70s who made big sounding pop 
singer-songwriting records, like Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, 
and even a little like Carol King. Good songs, good voice, and 
hell, if you want to drink coffee and eat granola to this you 
can do that too. 


Oblivion “Remixed” (Oblivioncd@comeast.net) Late 80s 
New Jersey thrash (this is not the Chicago punk band of the 
same name) that is extremely extreme and nastily nasty. They 
are selling this comp of all their demos for $7, so if you like 
your metal aggressive and thrashy, this is worth getting 


The Ocean “Aeolian” (Metal Blade) Brutal, raging Metal that 
thrashes, pummels, and destroys. A bunch of different 
vocalists bring styles ranging from Death Metal Cookie 
Monster roar to genuine howling to this sea of extreme rock 


Of The Opera “Study Natural law" (Lucid 665 Timber Hill 
Rd Deerfield IL 60015) This guy got ahold of the Depeche 
module. 


Tony O’Hora “Escape Into the Sun" (Locomotive) 
O'Horrible, 


Ohsees “The Coolo Death of Island Raiders” (Narnack) Like 
Alice in Wonderland formed a band. 


The Okmoniks “Whatcha Gonna Do?” ep, “Take a Spin 
With..."ep, “Rustle Up Some Action with...” (722 E. 9" St 
Tucson AZ 85719) I've got Okmo-mania! Rokmonics! 





100% Perfect Girl comic by Gabriel Pinto 
(www.akidnamedgabe.bravehost.com) This dude is really 
good at comics! 


One Ring Zero “Wake Them Up" (barbes) If these guys 
don’t get a genius grant for this album then there is no justice 
on earth. 


On Trial “Forever (Bad Afro) Hard psyche rock from 
Copenhagen that made it hard to cope with my hagen. Huge 
rock that should be listened to with headphones and 
blacklight 


Oppenheimer (Bar/None pob 1704 Hoboken NJ 07030) 
AWESOMEheimer! 


SO OE 











Order of the White Rose “War Machine” (Unitree POB 
880908 Pukalani HI 96788) Killer punk that has the impact of 
a bullet train. Hard hitting, hellishly good drumming, heavy 
lyrics, and, apparently, highly Hawaiian 


“Organelle” compilation (Phratry/Tiberius/State Bird) 
Thistle, Caterpillar Tracks, Hoover and El Gigante rise like 
Phoenix birds from this impressive expressive comp, 


Orso “is xmas tomorrow” (Perishable) Bore-so, 


Outline “You Smash It, We'll Build Around It” (Fearless) 
The best songs on here make me want to dance around 
angularly while breaking as many things as possible. 


Pattern is Movement “Canonic” (Hometapes, home- 
tapes.com) This is a remix album in which the band's master 
tapes were transformed into ambient dub music by their 
engineer Scott Solter. The play between the band's tracks, 
which already had weird tensions, and the traditional 
Jamaican soundsystem dub style employed here results in 
something that sounds mellow and disturbing at the same 
time. 


Patton Oswalt “No Reason to Complain” (Comedy Central 
DVD) Kind of funny, but he is a bit too cocky to be hilarious. 
Damn you, sitcoms! 


Ovo "Miastenia” (Load) The greatest Italian masked monster 
mom and pop noise, exploision, spped-dirge band ever! 


Paik “Monster of the Absolute” (Strange Attractors Audio 
House POB 13007 Portland OR 97213) Psyche-scapes that 
are grooving and barreling at the same time. Beautifully 
horrifying. 


Pajo “1968” (Drag City) | don't know why I went to the Slint 
reunion, but I did. And though I could not force myself to stay 
til the end I’m sure glad I got to see Dave Pajo rock. He even 
made the most indulgent, boring music come alive with his 
amazing tone and powerful sonic presence. And now he sings, 
too? This album is a joy. Sure, some call him this good 
looking, ambitious, super-sideman the indie rock Dave 
Navarro, but the big difference is Dave N. actually sucks at 
making music, while Dave O, is apparently a rock god. Plus 
Navarro's nipple rings are way more expensive. 


Panic “Circles” (Reflections, reflectinsrecords.com) If you 
dug classic mediocre hardcore you'll surely like the new 
version, 


Pansy Division “The Essential...” (Alternative Tentacles) All 
90s pop punk bands had singers with fey vocal delivery, but 
‘only one had a reason for it. While there may have been a few 
better homocore bands, the other greats were usually angry 
sounding, and the only one that sounded gay by both 
important dictionary definitions was Pansy Division, as their 
funny, clever, catchy songs were funny, clever and catchy. 
“Bad Boyfriend,” Manada,” “Homo Christmas,” and other 
winners are included here, with a 2™ disc of videos and TV 
appearances (on a gay cable access American Bandstand and 
an Italian MTV-type show) making this a release to be totally 
gay for 


Paper Airplane Pilots “Western Automatic Music” (Spade 
Kitty spadekitty.com) Boy can this guy yearn. 


Parasites “Retro-Pop Remasters” (Go-Kart) Like Screeching 
Weasel, Parasites were a band that would have been around 
anyway if pop punk didn't become a million dollar biz. in the 
90s. And like Screeching Weasel, | wouldn't have wanted to 
hear them anyhow. These archival *hits” are all solid pop and 
catchy and only a little whiny, But the Ramones made enough 
records that you would never have to resort to listening to 
this. 


Parks and Recreation (Hush) | was never sensitive enough 
to like music that sounds like this. Even their internet sex 
song with a disco beat is too fey and vulnerable for me. But 
I'm sure you'll love it. 


Patent Pending “Save the Whales, The Children are Doing 
Fine.” (WPOrecords.com) Putrid Pudding. 


Patience Please “parallel pilots” (Jigsaw 757 N. 65” St 
Seattle WA 98103) Nasal pop that popped me I the nasal. 


Patrizio “The Italian” (Universal) | wangt to have to make 
love to this romantic hunk, and I haven't been gay in years! 


Patron Saints “Time and Place” (Maxfield Multimedia) This 
band self-released a vanity LP in 1969 that, due in part to it’s 
ultra-low run (reportedly 100 copies), now fetches a few 
grand. Listening to new material by the band I can’t figure out 
if they were garage or psyche of free folk or what, because the 
new material doesn’t sound anything but modern. While this 
may be too slick to appeal to the 60s heads who shell out big 
bucks for collectables, | think a lot of folks will dig this. 
Recorded over the course of a few years by vintage Saints, 
few of which played in the same lineup in the old days (this 
was an act that was around for a while), this is a rock n roll 
album with some country rock and some jam band vibes and 
some bar band rock and some blues. What holds it together is 
the Neil Young-like vocals and the sincerity. 


The Peelers “Let's Detonate” (Beercan POB 1204 Bedford 
IL 60499) The Peers are Chicago's rockest and rollest rock 
‘n’ roll band. This new album, produced by Big Boy Tim Kerr 
and features a spooky robot rock song and a song about 
ejaculating on the TV when conservative pundits appear. In 
other words, this should be taught in schools. 


Nick Peraino & Blue Moon Risin’ “Noisy Picks and 
Humbars” (nickperaino.com) Thoughful country music that 
harkens back to the progressive singer-songwriter driven 
country of the 70s. 








| 
| / 


f 


= ; At > Seg) 


Goat's uniting reckless hunger Scones IS points 
for TEAM NATURAL PE SoUuRCES, 

Pere Ubu “Why I Hate Woman” (Smog Veil 1658 N 
Milwaukee Ave #284 Chicago IL 60647) Dave Thomas's 
place as one of the architects of both American punk and of 
challenging indie rock has long been established, so at this 
juncture he doesn’t have anything in the big picture to prove. 
Instead he need only establish himself as one of the most 
intense, most powerful, and strangest vocalists on earth. This 
severe song cycle (while maintaining the satisfying twists and 
grooves that make Pere Ubu's music so funkily seductive) 
allows Thomas to fully descend into all out troll-under-a- 
bridge vocal mode. And what a troll he is! Everyone, 
including the women he purports to “hate,” should buy this. 











Perish “Our Sin” (anko 211 S. State College Blvd suite #312 
Anaheim CA 92806) Pussy vocals and death vocals go 
together like fish and pancake syrup. 


Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry “in concert The Ultimate Alien” (MVD) 
Some folks offer that Mr. Perry is pretending to be crazy to 
avoid certain legal responsibilities. This concert, interview 
and rehearsal DVD seems to convince mne that he’s the real 
deal. Not only is he the stage-commanding, magic bringing, 
George Clinton of Jamaica. ..he’s also genuinely nuts. 


Persuaders “Forced To Fuck — the anthology — “ (Shattered, 
ShatteredRecords.net) New Orleans messiest ultra-rockers are 
posthumously celebrated in this discography comp that 
combines their singles, comp track, and LP. Yes. Every song 
sounds the same, but it sounds like the same aneurysm 
exploding in your head, so what are you complaining about. 


107 


Phantom Creeps/Damien Storm split CD (Necro TonePOB 
2517 Acton MA 01720) All monster songs! IF U2 or Puff 
Daddy or Lou Reed would come out with an all monster 
album maybe I'd buy one of their records, but for now I have 
the surf, trash novelty rock of the Creeps and the Trasylvanian 
folk music of Mr. Storm to keep my Halloween party going 
all year, 


Phoenix Mourning “when excuses become antiques” (Metal 
Blade) No more screamo, please. 


Pinebender “working nine to wolf” (Lovitt) Nothing here to 
get your pine bent abuut. 


Pink Black (New Disorder, newdisorder.com) | screwed 
myself over on this one. I thought this was going to be the 
noise band Pink Brown, and with the brilliant monkey art on 
this cover I was so looking forward to'this being a genius 
chaos noise blast that I was jarred to hear it’s pretty indie 
popish music with vocals that sound like they belong on a 
John Hughes teenage movie soundtrack. I’m sure this is great, 
but I'm too scarred from this experience to really give this a 
fair shot 


Benoit Pioulard “précis” (Kranky, kranky.net) Sure, we've 
all heard exquisitely layered, emotionally rich, introspective, 
strange, fragile bedroom music before. But this is exquisitely 
layered, emotionally rich, introspective, strange, fragile 
bedcave music. If those other fourtrackers and ProToolers just 
moved to a stalactite-filled spelunker-haven they too could 
get this echoingly awesome. 


The Pit That Became A Tower “Behold! The Unseen” 
(menofIsrael.com) This amazing album of strange, infectious 
pop songs by an Israeli bedroom band/indie rock collective is 
incredibly impressive. If they lived in Athens, GA or 
Brooklyn you would already have this on your itunes and be 
wearing their t-shirt. Sounds like everything from U2 to 
Pavement to Mountain Goats to Ani DiFranco to J. Mascis. 
And unlike all of them. 


Planet 13 “Third From the Right” (17580 NW 10" St 
Pembroke Pines FL 33029) Prog rock that’s ProGREATsive! 
This sounds bigger than a planet and just as complex 
ecosystematically 


The Playwrights “English self storage” (Sink and Stove) Not 
Just artsy, but actually fartsy as well. 


Please Step Out of the Vehicle “Sleeping Right and the Best 
in Homeopathic Magic” (Lucky Madison) Please step into my 
CD player!!! 


The Poems “Young America” (Minty Fresh) Too 
heartwrenchingly melodic and yearnful. Can avoice sound 
sleepy-eyed? 


The Poles “as above, so below” (DPG POB 3690 
Minneapolis, MN 55403) How many Poles does it take to 
screw an awesome moody, dynamic rocking CD into my 
stereo? Four! 


Polkaholics “Polka uber Alles” (www.thepolkaholics.com PO 
Box 803664, Chicago, III. 60680) The Polkaholics subscribe 
to the same "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory that The 
Ramones did, at least, until their fourth album. Anything The 
‘holics approach on this, their fourth CD, that isn't already 
broke, gets the full makeover with a sledgehammer. Any 
Polkaholics gig quickly turns into a party, and they've 
arguably captured that atmosphere in the studio more closely 
this time than on previous efforts. Like early to mid-80s Brave 
Combo, The Polkaholics' brand of Punk meets Polka is 
designed to culturally enlighten absolutely no one, though it's 
certainly aided in promoting Polka awareness and an 
appreciation of German and Polish cultures in Chicago. 
Unlike Brave Combo, The Polkaholics show absolutely no 
sign of "Growing up.” While B.C. was once actually a Garage 
band that happened to play Polkas, with no apparent regard 
for the burgeoning "World Music" scene, The Polkaholics 
don't have a hope in Hell (even if you waved a Grammy in 
their faces) of being anything other than what they are, Party- 
mad Polkateers bringing the Punk-happy Polka sound home, 
by way of Saints Johnny Ramone and Thunders (guitarist, 
Dandy Don Hedeker, is one of the most overlooked Thunders 
disciples on the circuit today. Johnny even played Don's clear 
plastic guitar for an entire show, once!). Though surely more 
"Punk" than Brave Combo in their prime, it's important to 
note that both bands came from the same place, a love of 25¢ 
Lil’ Wally (the Johnny Thunders of Polka) records, and a need 














to bring that party spirit to the underground. Anyway, this 
CD, not surprisingly, keeps that spirit alive, and, much like 
The Ramones when they could have USED those TV 
commercial royalties, never slows down, not even to reach for 
a beer. Relatively new toons include "Beer, Broads and 
Brats,” a real call to arms ("Brats" being bratwust. We love 
our meat products, encased or not, in Chicago), "Pimps of 
Polka” (In which the mac daddies of merriment make good on 
their promise to turn all Polka-curious baiters and Polka- 
furious haters OUT ! And, yes, they have appeared on stage in 
full pimpin’ gear already. By the way, what's the difference 
between a pimp and a piece of shit? You can't think of 
anything, either?), and the rousing "Wild and Crazy Polka 
Fans" (no, they haven't appeared live, dressed as the 
“Swingin' Czechoslovakians,” or, should | say, "Swingin' 
Czech Republicans,” YET, perhaps in fear of upstaging their 
main man, Chester Polyester, who sometimes calls himself 
“Frederick” in an effort to keep the papparazzi at bay). Other “ 
standards “ or yet-to-be standards (for people who HAVE no. 
standards) include "Beer (Breakfast of Champions),” always 
an audience fave, due primarily to the "Row, Row, Row Your 
Boat" type singalong, set to "Have You Ever Seen a Lassie": 
“Oh, I need a beer right now, beer right now, drink, 
chugalugga, drink, chugalugga...” 1 guess you don't have to be 
a College Professor to purvey such pearls of whiz-dumb, 
though, Hedeker actually IS one (hey, that sorta rhymes!), but, 
it hasn't hurt him any, Some things, just like Dandy Don's 
celebrated barwalking, need to be experienced live to be truly 
appreciated, but the essence of the tune (that would be Old 
Spice ® and Old Style ™) will come permeating from your 
speakers. The same is true of of the "Too Smart Polka,” which 
is basically a politically correct rewrite of “] Don't Want Her, 
You Can Have Her (she's Too Fat For Me").”...Yes, these 
brash boys can be deep...At the cost of revealing carefully 
guarded trade secrets, all of them are now happily married, 
and two have beautiful kids (go easy on bassist Jumpin’ 
James, he hasn't been married that long), Anyway, kielbasa, 
sauerkraut. kieshka, pierogies, cheap beer, and other delights 
await you here! Dandy Don: “The Polka revolution will not 
be televised...for obvious reasons.” 


Poo Poodles “Here Comes The Future” (The Quiet Life, 
thequietlife.com) These Poo puppies craft tiny little ditties 
that are closer to jingles than pop songs, except they are 
jingles promoting dogs with Mohawks, belly rubbing, John 
Frusciante, “skougmobiles,”and crazy sounding bananas. By 
making most of the songs clock in between 4 and 40 seconds 
they actually have solved a dilemma that has plagued every 
quirky tunester from Jonathan Richman to Atom and his 
Package — the joke can’t get old if it’s a one liner! This CD 
comes with a beautiful shirt. 


Pornstar Pets (Brinkfilm) No deception in the title. Adult 
film performers turn out to be pretty devoted pet owners. 
Classic stars like Kitten Navidad and the Hedgehog (who has 
a turtle, not a hedgehog) join the muscular men and modified 
maidens of modern stag films to show off dogs, cats, horses, 
and their real personalities. Note: apparently some adult film 
industry folks may be a bit insane. On the other hand, this is 
as honest, forthright and revealing as you will ever see some 
of them. 


Patrick Porter “Die Wandaland” (Greyday) Sensitive 
breathy lyrics and minimalist gentle music make even the 
Sears Tower small, delicate, and precious. 





Portico “shape the form” (Hinge, porticonation.com) The 
Portico singer lady has one of those fall-in-love-with-soul- 
when-you-hear-her-voice voices. 


Portugal the Man “Waiter: You Vultures” (Fearless) Better 
than Fleetwood Mac's “Rumours.” 


Jo Potter “8 Circles” (Roar!) This lady knows how to rock, 
yet she also knows how to love, and then she can write rock 
songs about love. And sometimes love hurts, apparently. 


The Pralines “Song of the Day Café” (Spade Kitty) Sixties- 
style Country-Pop as sweet and crunchy as the candy they 
have claimed as their band name. 


Prarie Town “Population 4” (Prairietown.net, 4830 N 
Michigan Chicago, IL 60630) This is just American bar rock 
at its purest. Not beholden to any genre or any posing, this is 
the kind of music Springsteen would be making if he had 
never made it, and he'd be happy doing it. 


Preeta “in this moment” (Starmen) Preeta's voice is pretty 
and not pretentious (though it is dramatic). With some reggae- 





lite vibes thrown in, and a good balance of slick and earthy, 
this singer-songwriter has a chance to be the female Jack 
Johnson. 


The Press “The Red Comes Ringin’” b/w I Likw to Talk 
About Myself (Goodnight, goodnightrecords.com 1301 East 
Rock Springs Rd, apt D Atlanta GA 30306) These two songs 
are expertly crafted constructions that are willing to go 
sonically and verbally anywhere to express ideas that seem to 
be as much about the content of the lyrics as they are the 
boldness of the music. Plus the a-side opens with a Bobby 
McFerrin on heroin human beat box explosion. 


Pretty Boys (Listen Loudest!) A band of Jandeks! 


Pretty Flowers (bananaseat records, 311 Lincoln Place Box 
6A Brooklyn NY 11238, prettyflowers.org) Fun, off-kilter 
poppy punk that will make you shake. Or make you want to 
go out and get a shake. 


Prince “3121" (Universal) Best Prince album since at least 
the year they invented Lunchables. 
——— = 








bare So 
Gogt's futile attempt in emmy 
unleashes comfy! leers Loom Lanry the Crabby hiker 
Puffy Amiyumi “Splurge” (Tofu POB 5158 Santa Monica 
CA 90409-5158 Santa Monica CA 90409) One of the best, 
most accurate, and most awesome glam records released in 
decades. The amazing grasp of glam's bubblegum 
bastardization and sexy sheen is remarkable. 








“Punk For Life volumes too thru III” (Run and Hide POB 
35094 Phila PA 19128) Forty international punk bands go 
apeshit. Philly's Minor Disturbance win the “I can’t believe 
no one took that name” award (and the “first Oi on the album” 
award); Ohio’s Mental Pain wins the “were-playing-as-fast- 
as-we-can” award (and the “most Qi's squeezed into a 
second” award); Louisiana's Beer Pressure win the “I wish I 
lived in the UK” award; Australia’s N.F.I. win the “Best 
gobbed phlegm luggie ever recorded” award. And the Fuckin 
Fuckers win the “best name ever" award. And they sound like 
Zappa. 


The Punks “Unanimous bangers” (SRC) Glorious noise that 
made me feel like I was in a super-8 movie in which 
something really bad was about to happen to me. 


Purified in Blood “Reaper of Souls” (abacus) Should be 
called Sautéed in Righteous Brutality! 


Puzod (Listen Loudest!) Alternative jam rock that made me 
groove and do that dance. You know the one I'm talking 
about. 


Pyrite “iron soul fight” (myspace.com/pyrite, 1921 S. Peoria 
#1 Chicago, IL 60608) PyYALRIGHT! 


“Queen Under Review 1973-1980" DVD, Vol 2: 1980-1990 
(Chrome Dreams) The self-description of these DVDs (“the 
ultimate review and critical analysis of Queen’s music and 
live performances”) had me expecting something different. I 


108 





thought maybe this would be a profoundly original release, 
maybe with Queen footage interspersed with a session from 
an academic Queen conference, with learned panelists 
espousing upon, and fiercely debating, Queen theory. Instead 
it is a cheap looking, but still very entertaining, sub-VH1 
special with talking heads semi-intelligently discussing 
Queen’s work song-by-song, mostly from a pretty pure 
musical perspective, with no one really offering much 
analysis of the textual content of the songs, or offering 
interesting biographical info or analysis that might explain the 
band's motivations. Some of the people seem smarter than 
others (a running semi-joke in the film is to follow up a 
professorial declaration by a erudite rock scholar with the 
snaggle-toothed Kerrang writer offering the opposite 
opinion). And some statements are so dumb or obvious it's 
hard to understand how they made it into the final edit (one 
gentleman mentions that Freddie Mercury was very important 
to Queen's success), But overall, this is a very fun DVD to 
watch, as the BBC live footage of Queen is, of course, 
remarkable, and the handful of odd interview segments they 
dig up include Mercury telling a reporter his Freddie-vs.-Sex 
Pistols story (Freddie offers to sing on their record if Johnny 
sings on his, then after the inevitable rebuke he teases the 
band about the symmetry of their bloody scratches). 
Definitely made by super fans, the extras include an 
exhaustive discography. But definitely not made by DVD 
makers, this has no menu graphics, and is difficult to navigate, 


Que Suerte comix (Apdo 18280, 28080, Madrid Spain) This 
comic compilation about thieves stole my heart! The best 
comix comp in the world, featuring about half the cartoonists 
in the world. 


The Quiet Ones “Make Some Noise” (Not Big 20 Herbert St. 
Brooklyn NY 11222) This is some incredibly pleasant 
children’s music about suoerheroes, banans, milk and bikes, I 
like how a slightly English accent makes everything sound a 
little naughty. Most kids would dig this, | am a semi-deadbeat 
dad to four or five little Waymon’s, and none of them would 
like this, but they only listen to Crass, so they don’t count. 


Quixotic “Welcome” (Illiance, 23154 Reynolds Hazel Park, 
MI 48030) A sea of smooth multi-genre musical semi- 
weirdness. 


Radio Beats “Ready to Shake” (Big Neck POB 8144 Reston 
VA 20195) Beat me with a radio and a crowbar and a guitar 
and a dildo and a garbage can. And it did so musically! 


Radio Birdman “Hungry Cannibals” b/w “Rock Bottom” 
(Steel Cage) One of our best Roctober writers got called out 
in another mag for stating that contemporary Radio Birdman 
is not so special. While | am loyal to my colleague, and am 
certain that he is a better human, lover, fisherman, writer and 
anything else than the angry letter writer, I'm going to have to 
side with the crank on this one. It’s amazing how good they 
still are, and the way they balance garage punk raw with big 
sounding (can I say “classic”) rock music is just something 
else. Australian guitar genius music. Apparently this is their 
first US 7” ever! 


Radiohead: ok computer - a classic album under review 
DVD (Sexy Intellectual) Wow, can you believe they were 
able to assemble a group of British rock critics to talk about 
this particular album? This really fills in the gaps missing 
from the 1.3 billion words already written about the CD. 


Radio Knives “Cursed” (Dionysus) This is so rock n roll it 
made me quit my job and but a tattoo gun! 


Rainy Day Saints “Diamond Star highway” (Get Hip) Flower 
pop with some extra bafls and jangle. Contains the most 
introspective “Sonic Reducer” cover ever. 


Randeyvyn “soltrain” (solville, rendevyn.com) Exquisite neo- 
soul sung in a smooth, authoritative voice. And the skits are 
even good. 


Randy the Band (Fat) Joke punk is real punk, 
Rata Blanca “La llave de la puerta secreta” (Delanuca) This 
Argentinean band proves that bad metal no knows 


international or language boundaries. 


The Ratchets “Glory Bound” (Pirate's Press 819 30" Ave SF, 
CA 94121) Clash-tastic! 


Ratos de Parao “Homem Inmigo Do Homem” (Beat 
Generation/Munster) | don’t understand enough Spanish to 








know specifically what injustices have enraged these veteran 
extreme hardcore metal thrashsters, but I can tell by their 
incredible fury that whatever inspired this was so bad | 
completely agree with them. 


Dave Rave “Anthology |,” “Anthology 2” (Bullseye 180 
Station St. suite 53 ajax ON L1S 1R9 Canada) These two CDs 
showcase the long, fascinating career of Mr. Rave, the 
Canadian power pop legend who has spent the last quarter 
century making shiny, awesome music with his own bands 
and as the (replacement) singer in Teenage Head, in the teen 
band Fulcrum, in the early 80s garage act the Shakers, and as 
a collaborator with numerous talented folks happy to utilize 
the writing, strumming and vocal artistry of the Ravester. The 
best news here is that the brand new tracks are as great as 
anything, top notch and tifheless pop, demonstrating that he’s 
still got it. Also, though Rave was not in Teenage Head for 
“Shake Some Action,” luckily his band covered the song in 
1981, and it’s an amazing track. If you have to choose one CD 
definitely grab volume one, as it features youthful Shakers’ 
recordings, and the purest power pop tracks. In fact, the 
second CD is a little heavy on slow, more serious stuff. BUT 
volume two also features an actual teenage cassette bedroom 
recording and live high school band music, and those are my 
fave things on here. Shit, just buy them both. 


Razorcake magazine (POB 42129 LA, CA 90042) Happy 5” 
anniversary! This issue Nardwuar almost gets beat down! 


Jay Reatard “Blood Visions” (In The Red) this isn’t garage 
or punk or trash or new wave or anything. It is just awesome. 
Reatard is a pure force of raw rock magic and this record is 
the greatest testament yet to his ridiculous rock prowess 
hinted at in his out of control rock infanthood. There are 15 
songs pn this album, and one of them will be your new 
favorite song (mine is “Not A Substitute”), 


The Receiver “Decades” (Stunning Models On Display) The 
Resnoozer 


Red & Gold “Your Napoleon” (Lujo 3209 Jennie Dr Morgan 
City LA 70380) Left me Black and Blue. Screech-tastic! 


Red Animal War “Seven Year War” (End Sounds POB 
684743 Austin TX 78768) Dark, rich, futuristic post-post 
punk that made me paint my cats red and encourage them to 
fight. 


Red Krayola “Introduction” (Drag City) I've seen Roky 
Erickson howl like a mighty madman and Sky Saxon stumble 
like a shameless mess, and both had their merits, but Mayo 
Thompson's formula for Psyche Rock Aging Gracefully is a 
killer —he just unleashes intelligently bizarre orations over art 
rock, letting his non-sequiturs do the talking and making the 
listeners feel like mad geniuses for loving this stuff rather 
than appearing to be crazy in any way himself. 


Red Swan “Cold Winter's Dawn” (Isoxys?) Creepy Velvet 
Underground/Lord of the Rings/martial band/mariachi 
band/monster movie inspired madness, Not sure what label, if 
any, this is on, but the other CD I have is on Isoxys. 


Reducers SF “Raise Your Hackles” (TKO, tkorecords.com) 
Reduced me to a drunken, toothless hooligan. Pardon me, an 
extremely happy drunken toothless hooligan. 


“Regime Change” (Teen Regime POB 100167 Pittsburgh PA 
15233) A dozen killer indie and outie rock bands from 
Pennsylvania including the amazing Hi-Frequencies, the 
harmonious We're Wolves (best wolf band name yet), the 
dramatic Kevin Finn, and the eighties-never-ended Shopping. 
All awesome, by the way 


Megan Reilly “let your ghost go” (Carrot Top 935 W 
Chestnut suite LL15 Chicago IL 60622) Reilly has one of 
those expressive voices that can open wide and powerfully 
without ever losing the feeling of natural, relaxed purity. And 
when she plays it down it’s just as potent, I'm not the target 
demographic for this kind of music (slightly twangy singer- 
songwriter stuff that’s caught between the coffeehouse and 
the honkytonk), but I can really appreciate what makes this 
singer special 


The Remnants “A few evenings with the bastard” (New Art 
School 12864 Biscayne Blvd #201 North Miami, FL 33181) 
Rock and soul that made me soil myself but still keep 
dancing. 


Rennick “To The Skies” (Pathways, Rennickmusic.com, 225 
Crossroads Blvd suite 414 Carmel CA 93923) Rennick loves 
drama, yet he loves it exquisitely. This is for men who wore 
eyeliner and read dark poetry in the 80s and the women who 
(fruitlessly) loved them, 


Reptoids “Park a Tiger” (RRR, but not the RRR from 
Massachusetts, reptoids,net) Rocking, nasty guitar rawk that 
convinces you that these musicians would kick your ass. 


Resident Alien “Demo” (residentalienband.net) These aliens 
are out of this world, flying their mellow rocking spaceship 
above the college bar rock stratosphere. 


The Returnables (Dirtnap 2615 SE Clinton St. Portland OR 
97202) During their hardworking reign at the middle of the 
Chicago rock pack the Returnables were notable not only for 
their music’s manic blend of garage rock and power pop but 
also (moreso, really) for their incredible, absurd, ridiculous 
energy and intensity. And not angry mean intensity, but rather 
overabounding joy intensity! They LOVED to play rock ‘n’ 
rolol, and you'll feel the love in this CD of studio (and a little 
bit of live) recordings that is a fine marker of a fine, lost band. 





Goat exfer with feliaion and is Subseuently 
Lired Grom the dept. of Scientelesy. F 

Rey. Beat-Man and the The Church of Herpes (Voodoo 
Rhythm) Trash garage rock meets grinding’ minimalist 
industrial music and the result is a gloriously nails-on-a- 
chalkboard disaster that everyone will hate...so fuck 
everybody! This is a triumph of ugliness. The version of 
“Blue Suede Shoes” would kill Carl Perkins if he wasn’t 
already dead. | wish Beat-Man was my pastor! 


Rifu “Bombs For Food, Mines for Freedom" (Go Kart) 
Raging metalcore that both manages to speed and plod at the 
same time. This sounds like seething anger feels. 


River City Tanlines “I'm Your Negative” (Dirtnap) If your 
fishing the greatest Trout in rock *n’ roll (Alicja, that is) then 
cast your bait towards this killer CD. In a world was a better 
place this would be the band on TRL that every kid in 
America was screaming for. But if the world was a better 
place I guess punk garage trash rock wouldn't sound this 
vicious. 


Rocket “Girls with Candy Hearts” (Teenacide) Bubblegum 
party music that made me tingle. OK, almost every girl band 
makes me tingle, but this made me REALLY tingle. 
References Dracula, Joey Ramone, and Brian Connolly, 
although come top think of it, I’ve never seen any of them in 
the same room at the same time. 


Rock Fresh DVD (MVD) This documentary on L.A. graffiti 
artists by Danny Lee is certainly visually rich, extremely 
stylistic, and incredibly slick. But despite this being a 
technical triumph this is actually one of the least satisfying 
graffiti docs I've ever seen, especially in light of the same 
DVD company releasing the amazing Style Wars not once but 
twice over the last few years. The problem with this film 
could be its strengths if the cheerleading filmmaker had a 


more critical eye: with one or two exceptions every artist here 
is continuing to work in a style that hasn't developed much in 
decades, they aren't from the same backgrounds as the poor 
inner city kids who pioneered the style, and they are all at a 
point where they are working for corporate clients or 
developing lucrative businesses (like selling expensive ugly 
graffiti trucker hats). If this film featured more voices critical, 
or at least acknowledging of, this weird place for “street” art 
to be then Rock Fresh would make more sense. And when 
Lee does show opposing clichéd opposing voices it still works 
against the film: he interviews an anti-graffiti politician and 
the measured, sensible response from the government official 
actually makes her seem more intelligent and reasonable than 
the filmmaker who is spouting pro-graffiti rhetoric that seems 
to have little to do with the corporate ambitions of his 
subjects. All that said, this film does look great and if you are 
a graffiti-ologist you need to see this. But don’t expect it to be 
the best of the genre. 


Rocks and Blows (1002 W. Montrose Ave Box 194 Chicago 
IL 60613) I wasn’t sure what the title of this literary zine 
meant, but after reading the brutally violent drug dealer beat 
down story that opens the new issue | decided it has to do 
with cocaine, David Frank is a bad ass, 


The Rolling Stones Under Review 1962-1966 DVD (Sexy 
Intellectual) This entry into thios series of rock-critics-tell- 
you-what-to-think music documentaries does well by focusing 
on a concise developmental segment of Stonesology. The 
footage of the band from that era is amazing, the stories are 
great, and “I left the Stones for the Pretty Things and I'm OK 
with that” Dick Taylor is the coolest old man in rock. 


“Roots Tonic meets Bill Laswell” (ROIR POB 501 Prince 
St. Station NYC 10012) Apparently when Matisyahu tells his 
band to take Shabbat off they head over to Laswell’s UFO and 
make interstellar blessed out dub music. If you can't figure 
out how to enjoy this CD profusely then you need to get a 
new dealer, because he's selling you skunkweed. 


Ethan Rose “Ceiling Songs” (Locust) Rose makes strange 
soundscapes by defacing player piano music rolls, recording 
weird mechanical noises, and playing pretty instruments, 
ultimately creating dreamy sounds that coincide with the kind 
of dream where you wake up and part of your body hurts. 


The Rosewood Thieves “From the Decker House” (V2) 
Everything's coming up Rosewood! This guy is the new 
Dylan. Or at least the new Brandon. 


K. Ross “That Dirty Clown” (G.R.I.M., 
thatdirtyclown@ gbritt.com) This is an intense lo-fi rock opera 
about a unkempt, drunken clown, the woman who fell for his 
charms, and their clown baby (who squeals more like pig than 
aclown). This creepy song cycle (or song unicycle, | suppose) 
is genuinely disturbing and emotional and strange. Mr. Ross 
really wanted us to care and is actually not making fun of 
carey culture, just using it for a setting. Super weird. 


Rick Rourke “Lost Wages” (rickrourke.com) Mr. Rourke 
granted my fantasy ~ to hear some gritty, singer-songwriter 
songwriting with balls that wasn't full of shit, Thank you Mr. 
Rourke. 


David Rovics “Halliburton Boardroom Massacre” 
(Mi5/Caroline) I'm glad someone is singing protestfolk songs 
about Bush, the Neocons, Katrina unpreparedness, etc., but 
this sounds as boring as any 60s folk music, and maybe a litle 
worse because he has an annoying voice. 


Roy and the Devil's Motorcycle “Because of Women” 
(Voodoo Rhythm) Rockin’ rock filtered through the actual 
ghosts of the dead bluesman who haunt the spooky into these 
Swiss beaters. 


The Roy Owens Jr. “Good Times” (International Hits, 
internationalhits.com) Southern rock swagger meets indie 
rock sensibilities. Southern rock swagger, thankfully beats the 
indie down, and you get a rollickin’ record, 


Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers “North of Bakersfield” 
(Dionysus) I wish Ruby was tonkin’ this honky! 


Rupam “My Love Is You” (RJ) Rupam has a nice voice and 
when his songs stay true to Indian pop these tracks are pretty 
enchanting. But when he lets his American collaborators have 
too much songwriting rein control you get some serious 
schmaltz. And not the god kind. 











Travis Rush “Come and Get It" (Mason) Radi- ready 
Country that’s better than Travis or Rush. 


Russian Spy Camera “You Are A Vulture” (HHBTM) I’m 
rushin’ to play this awesome CD again! 


The Sadies “Tales of the Rat Fink” “In Concert Vol. 1” (Yep 
Roc POB 4821 Chapel Hill NC 27515) The Sadies are now 
the official greatest rock band in the universe. They can do it 
all, and on the 100 or so tracks on these two releases, they do, 
Channeling the Byrds, the Band, the Rolling Stones, Davie 
Allan, Beach Boys, Clash, Shangri-Las, Porter and Dolly, the 
Buckaroos, and anyone else great you can think of, these 
gents (and some talented friends) just seem to be the act that 
gets it better than anyone else at this exact second. If they 
come to your town, you better party down to this North 
American band. 


Sailor Winters “Red At Morn” (Stickfigure POB 55462 
Atlanta GA 30308) The sound of mellow carnage. 


The Sainte Catherines “Dancing for Decadence” (Fat) 
Earnest, driving political punk that sounds so serious and 
powerful that there’s no way their activism — which advocates 
a revolution that includes fun and damage - is symbolic or 
bullshitty. This also fits comfortably into the historical cannon 
of political punk albums by having a song critiquing the punk 
scene, in this case the internet critic wing of the punk scene. 


The Satelliters (Dionysus, POB 1975 Burbank CA 91507) 
Yes, this is 60s-souled garage punk that is about as badassed 
and amazing as you could crave BUT if there's one magazine 
that is going to call this band out for a particular brand of 
bullshit it is us... THEY TOOK OFF THEIR MASKS! Shit, 1 
know it's hot in those masks, I was the back end of a horse 
high school mascot for 5 years (11" grade was challenging for 
me) but if you commit to the mask you gotta stick to it. Look 
what happened when KISS unmasked..."Heaven's On Fire!” 
The album cover’s blurry, I can't quite see your faces, you are 
forgiven, Re-mask! 


Scaffold “Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall 1968” (Cherry 
Red) I'm sure all Beatles fans know about this act, but this is 
my first time hearing Paul's kid brothers comedy/drinking 
hall act. This album presents a live concert of Monty 
Pythonish absurdity (without the dresses or silly voices). 
While the few musical numbers are bouncy and fun 
(especially the exit tune “Thank U Very Much”), and while 
there are brief nods to psyche and rock culture (a bit about 
National LSD Week stands out) for the most part this is 
extremely Pythonesque sketch comedy with the absolute 
highlight being a skit where a gentleman goes to a virginity- 
restorer. No wonder the Beatles broke up the next year...how 
could they compete with this? 


Rick Schroder “Your Kind Words” (rickschrroder.com) 
Country story songs that are more straightforward and 
gimmick-free than anything on Country radio, but more radio 
(and C&W fan) friendly than most of the Bloodshot stuff. 


The Scourge of the Sea “Make Me Armoured” (Alias) Made 
me sea sick 


Sebastien Schuller “Happiness” (Minty Fresh, 
mintyfresh.com) This is the music that would play from a 
fairy tale princess’ velvet-lined music box that holds an 
enchanted secret. 


Scotland Yard Gospel Choir “Then and Not a Moment 
Before” ep (Microindie) Enchanting pop. If the Smiths had a 
less annoying singer they could have hoped to sound like this. 


The Scourge of the Sea “Make Me Armored” (alias 10153 
1/2 Riverside Dr #115 N. Hollywood CA 91602) Scourge of 
the Sweeties, 


The Scuba Men “Scuba Dooba Baby” b/w “green seas” 
(Hillside 4200 Park Blvd, #158 Oakland CA 94602) Finally 
someone has figured out how to improve instrumental surf 
music... by adding singing! 


The 2™ Hand (free! 2543 W. Walton #3 Chicago, IL 60622) 
Finally! This venerable short story compilation 4 page free 
zine has abandoned short stories and given way to chronicling 
competitive eating contests. Oh wait, actually, a recent issue 
is about competitive.cooking. Well, that’s still good. Yet upon 
further review it seems they are now focusing on a single, 
longer, creative writing project per issue rather than a 
collection (shortler] stories still appear on the2ndhand.com). 


This one is about pies. So already the new-look 2™ Hand is 
better than if was about cakes. Another recent issue has a 
fresh Al Burian story. 


Second Story Man “Red Glows Brighter” (POB 5696 
Louisville KY 40255) Second Band that calls Itself SSM on 
the CD cover this issue, and the Second Best Man in the battle 
of the SSM's 


The Secret Files of Captain Sissy zine (Microcosm) Rad 
(skating injuries), radical (reviews of revolutionary’s 
biographies) and ration conscious (a verbose defense of 
Flaming Hot Cheetos). 


The Selmanaires “Here Come...” (International Hits) These 
Atlanta guys are so Kinksy they even have British noses. 


Sensational/Kouhei “Sensational Meets Kouhei™ 
(wordsound.com) Sensational is a Brooklyn MC who 
combines pre-boring backpacker style (he was in a 90s 
incarnation of the Jungle Brothers) with a crazy semi-coherent 
non-sequitur flow. Here he lays rhymes over tracks by 
Japanese noise merchant Kouhei Matsunaga (Merzbow 
collaborator) to create a seriously strange album. 
Sensational's unusual style allows him to adapt to the weird 
moods and ambience of the more fucked up tracks, but too 
often Kouhei can’t help but get funky in the presence of a 
Brooklynite, producing pretty standard beats. 


Uf 








Holy Kivty Litre !l! Resty eee in ON ficiabing asvreco-femaq 
wrestling mateh! ae 

seven degrees from center “catalog debris" (4922 North 

College Ave. (Indianapolis, IN 46205) Seven Degrees above 

Awesome! 


Sex Pistols “Live, Tempe, Arizona, 2003” (bootleg CD). This 
is a fans' tape, burned onto CD, which is now being traded 
among collectors. It's a document of the last-ever Sex Pistols 
show, a show that almost didn't happen, until the band 
realized they had a day off in the states after their final 
summer tour wrapped up. The sound is pretty rough, and 
there's probably better copies of this floating around, but, it's 
nice to have, all the same. Most of their classics appear here, 
the only “Rarities” being "No Fun" and “Belsen Was a Gas.” 
It's important to note that, even in 1996, during their last 
"Final" tour, some of their subject matter was dated. Take 
"God Save The Queen" (the monarchy hangs by a thread, 
today. Who even remembers The Golden Jubilee?), or 
“Holidays in The Sun" (the Berlin Wall, like Punky Brewster, 
was but an awful memory by the early 90s), and “Bodies,” in 
which Lydon/Rotten addresses the latter day audience, 
“Should abortions exist? Good question!” leaving it at that. I 
always took it as less of an outright anti-abortion song (Tom 
Robinson chastised Lydon at the time, saying it was his 
Catholic upbringing that left him so “ill-informed"), and more 
of an anti-BACK ALLEY abortion song, so, in that, it's not 
dated at all, even if Lydon doesn’t say where he stands (this 
is, after all, a Rock ‘n’ Roll show, not a religious or political 
gathering). The band sounds surprisingly good, as they did 
when I caught them earlier in the tour (which featured strong 
backing by The Reverend Horton Heat, and just the opposite 


110 


from the inexplicably popular Dropkick Murphys), and really 
tose to the occasion when they learned their "last" show 
would really be their penultimate show. Of course, they could 
have played again this year, but they refused to accept their 
induction into The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Alan Freed, I 
think, would have said, “Mazeltov, boys.” I admit, outright, 
that I saw the reformed Sex Pistols twice. Partly because I 
couldn’t have seen them the first time around (I asked my 
folks if 1 could see them in Dallas in ‘78, when I was 13. What 
do YOU think they said?), and mainly because they were still 
a good damned Rock ‘n’ Roll group. Even if Lydon once said 
The Pistols were supposed to have been "the end of Rock n’ 
Roll" (just as Dada was supposed to be "the end of art,” yet it 
became a respected art form in itself), I think even he'd agree 
with me on this one. “I haven't heard too many Punk Rock 
bands, but I kind of like those Sex Pistols. They've really got 
some of the old 50s beats in their music.” - Carl Perkins. 


Sex Robots (Roadhouse Tunes 9102 Edwards Dr. St. Louis, 
MO 63132) Obviously the band can’t live up to the name, but 
this exhilarating pop punk comes pretty close. Think happy 
funtime sex robots, not some H.R. Giger dark drilling 
monstrosity. This is more like making love to an Aibo dog. 


Shai Hulud “A Profound Hatred of Man,” “With Hope and 
Compassion" (Revelation) This metalcore mainstay reissues 
some decade-old albums that were more ‘core than metal. 
This will be of profound value to future metalcorealurgists 
studying the genre. 


Sham 69 “Hersham Boys” DVD (MVD) You will say “Oi!” 
you will breakout of Borstal, and you will want to visit the 
dentist after getting booted in the head by this awesome 
concert DVD. 


Shapes and Sizes (asthmatic kitty, asthmatickitty.com) Shape 
of Boredom! Size of Indie clichés! 


Shat “Cuntree” (Buddyhead) If I were to say that this album 
was 69 grinding, driving rock anthems about pussy I would be 
lying. Three songs are about titties, 


Matthew Shaw “Convenience” (Burning Building) Shaw 
utilizes electronics, but this brings to mind the robot who 
somehow, perhaps after the death of his inventor, or maybe 
through the kindness of a beautiful, innocent girl, learns to 
feel human emotions, and somehow — against all scientific 
programming reasoning — sheds a tear, 


Shirley Wins by Todd Taylor (Gorsky Press, POB 42024 
LA, CA 90042) taylor is known for rock ‘n’ roll writing, and 
this story rocks, but it’s only tangentially about punk rock 
(very tangentially). Not only has Taylor stepped out of his 
musicial safety zone, he also has undertaken the challenge of 
painting portraits of two women, which he succeeds at, and 
he's written a book that will engage youthful readers even 
though it is about an old woman, What's most appealing 
about Shirley Wins is the way the book (a full 188 pages, with 
just a couple of pictures for you folks who need drawings) 
feels more like a short story than a novel. There's a modest 
premise (a coupla ladies enter a pumpkin launching contest) 
and a conclusion that's pretty much given away in the title. 
Then there's a hundred fifty pages of writing, real writing, 
filling the middle, painting two vivid portraits, and making the 
pumpkin’s flight really mean something. 


Shitkickers “Moon's Moonlight" (Big Bender pob 28719 San 
Jose CA 95159) Recorded at Sun Studios, this suite of 
barroom anthems is as rowdy, raucous and righteous a 
hillbilly/truckdriver/Grand Ole Opry-worshipping album 
you're gonna hear this side of 1963. Rat Farts!?! 


The Shivvers (Teenline/Hyped2Death.com POB 351 
Westminster MA 01473) Around 1980 the commercial 
prospects of New Wave emboldened Power Pop-ers to believe 
that they could make it. Milwaukee's Shivvers had the jangle, 
hopelfulness, and shameless Beatles-love of all PP’ers, but in 
the beautiful, sorta-English sounding frontwoman Jill 
Kossoris they also had a chance. Had more people heard their 
single “Teen Line” then they might have been as big as the 
Motels or Missing Persons, but they would have been way 
better. This CD contains the great tunes they recorded 
between 1979 and 1982, a slick recording of their would-be 
super hit “Remember Tonight” from a 1989 reunion recording 
session, and a concert set from SummerFest that reveals a 
killer live act. But the reason to buy this is for the five 
Quicktime videos of the band performing on TV, the best of 
which is in some cheapo studio with upturned collars, great 
cable-access style editing (I don't mean that ironically) and so 








much rouge and eyeliner on Jill that I'm surprised here face 
isn’t tilting forward from the weight. 


Sh:mantra “A System of Moments” (Sprock) Sh:muddled. 


Shock Nagasaki “Tear of the Spy” (TKO) That's what I call 
street punk! 


Shelly Short “Captain Wild Horse Rides the Heart of 
Tomorrow” (Hush) Shelly Short’s music is dramatic, 
narrative and mysterious sounding, but there's nothing spooky 
or scary about it despite it sounding like something gothic 
ghosts haunting an old Southern mansion would really dig. 
Short’s voice is beautiful in several ways, not the least of 
which is its intimate friendliness that makes even the 
moodiest tunes warm and inviting 


Shotgun Monday “Read Complete Adjust” (Modern radio 
POB 8886 MPLS MN 55408) Ex-Calvin Krime, this is a start- 
stop desperation blast from the distant enough past. 


Show Me the Pink “velo cipedo mania!" (Chainsaw POB 
11384 Portland OR 97211) Musical debauchery that is 
futuristic (albeit a future predicted in the hypothetical porno 
version of Death Race 2000) and freakarific (or perhaps 
freakazoid-al). | would gladly join this band’s fanclub and/or 
cult. 


The Shut-Ups “The Stud Album” (Fraudulent 3857 
Longview Dr. Atlanta GA 30341, myspace.com/shutups) 
Teenage style pop that covers teenage themes (forelorn love, 
robot impersonation, porn fixation) but filtered through a 
more adult perspective (and adult level of musical 
competency). Tooo often when power popsters like Matthew 
Sweet grow up they make grown up songs, but these are 
delightfully adolescent without being dumb. 


Sick On The Bus “Go To Hell” (SOS) Awesome Speed-Oi 
that actually beat up my other CDs. Calls god “a fucking 
cunt" on track I. And then they get nasty. 


Mike Sikorsky “Close Enough to Touch” (Mesa Apache 
1959 S. Power Road #103-275 Mesa AZ 85206) | love Mike's 
ultra-traditional style of Country (anyone who covers Johnny 
Cash's shoeshine anthem “Gewt Rhythm” understands what 
the roots of this music are all about). With some dabbling into 
blues. rockabilly, and sentimental 60s 1adio music, MS's 
straightforward singing and nice strumming makes this a treat. 


Silver “world against world” (Bad Afro, badafro.dk) Punk 
gold! 


Liam Singer “our secret lies beneath the creek” (Tell All 
POB 40298 SF, CA 94110) Church music! 


Sinking Ships “Disconnecting” (Revelation POB 5232 
Huntington Beach CA 92615) Stinking Ships. 


Sinks of Gandy “Trust = Damage” (Tiberius 4280 Catalpa 
Drive Independence, KY 41051) Makes me Think of Candy 


Sioux City Pete & the Beggars “Necro Blues” (Steel Cage 
POB 29247 Philadelphia PA 19125) Johnny Thunders is more 
immortal than Elvis and Jimi and Sinatra because only 
Thunderheads can completely become Johnny without 
actually being Halloween dress-up impersonators. In fact, 
they can even stretch beyond Johnny's safety zone. On this 
ambitious album Pete (who has singlehandedly created the 
Midwestern region known as the Iowa Glitter Belt, which 
hatched the Chickenhawks) embarks on a dark exploration 
into the seamy side of life through a long, hard, nasty look at 
classic blues. He may replace Chinese rocks with bell jar 
whiskey, but it is still essentially, gloriously Thunderous. 


Sir Douglas Quintet "live from austin tx" CD, DVD -(New 
West Records, www.austincitylimitsdvd.com). | remember 
around ‘80-'81 when the word got out on the radio that The Sir 
Douglas Quintet was reforming. | called the deejay (you could 
do this, back then) and asked if this was really the same band 
that had a hit with "Mendocino" (which you NEVER hear on 
Oldies radio), and he confirmed that the purveyo: 
my big childhood faves (the others being "Hair." 
“The Unicorn") were indeed having another go at it. The SDQ 
tried to time their comeback attempt to coincide with the 
emerging New Wave scene they'd inspired (even if only Elvis 
Costello, Joe "King" Carrasco, and a handful of others copped 
to Sahm and band's greatness), and made a direct hit, though, 
like their fellow Texans, Kenny and The Kasuals, The Red 
Krayola, and, of course, Roky Erickson, they were met with 





varying degrees of success. This live performance on Austin 
City Limits (spliced together with live footage of Joe "King" 
Carrasco and The Crowns, | seem to recall, or was that 
Soundstage?) shows the revamped group at the peak of their 
powers. The legendary song stylist, Doug Sahm, maestro of 
the cheesy keys, Augie Meyers, and El Rey del Rockin’ Tejas 
stomp, Johnny Perez, from the classic lineup, are joined by 
Austin faves-Bassist, Speedy Sparks (Roky Erickson Band, 
Leroi Bros., Teddy and The Tall Tops, etc), Honky Tonk 
guitarist and fiddler, Alvin Crow, and even Doug's then- 
teenage son, Shawn Sahm. SDQ staples like "The Rains 
Came,” "Mendocino,” the truly beautiful "Crossroads" (which 
warranted a strong cover from Mott The Hoople), and, of 
course, "She's About A Mover" ("Whoa, yeah, what I say!") 
fall in comfortably alongside strong material from their return 
to form LP, "Border Wave,” some cool Conjunto Rock, and 
appreciative nods to their Hermanos de la Garaje, ? and The 
Mysterians ("96 Tears,” natch, also performed on the 
recommended Texas Tornados set from the same series) and 
The 13th Floor Elevators ("You're Gonna Miss Me"-"That 
record was just too much!"-Doug), not to mention the 
Ramones-like treatment given to The Kinks' "Who'll Be The 
Next In Line?” A quality performance in an intimate setting. 
If you were ever lucky enough to see The Sir Douglas 
Quintet, as I did, that's exactly what you got. Now, whether 
you saw the band or not, here's a chance to see what made 
them one of the great American, as well as Texan, Rock ‘n’ 
Roll bands of all time. Groovier than a 78 RPM record, if I'm 
lyin’, I'm dyin ! 


16 Horsepower “Hoarse” (Alternative Tentacles, 
alternativetentacles.com) Never a fan, so archival material 
seems superfluous, especially considering how many better 
Insurgentaires there are out there. 


The Slats “Boom Patrol” (Latest Flame 1638A North Astor 
St. Milwaukee WI 53202) Powerful chemical weapon hook- 
bombs that release infectious ninja-wave music into 
welcoming bloodstreams. Better than the Cars. 

ae CT we Wy 
\ AAA 





Z Z 
Goatand Resty may be to Ynane for twin own o, 
y 
Slideshaker “In the raw” (Bad Afro) Nasty Swedish Blues- 
punk that actually grooves, and that amazingly features good 
songwriting. This shook my slide. 


Slow Poisoner “Fatal Floral Phonograph” (Roctopus 1593 
McAllister St. #206 SF, CA 94115) For a slow poison, this 
delightfully strange EP was over much too quick. This 
chamber-ish one man band is an elegant Phantom of the non- 
Opera, playing weird pop-like songs that make death seem 
inviting. 


Slow Runner “no disassemble” (red ink) This made me think 
they should change the name of the instrument from piano to 
pianY ES! 


Small Faces “Under Review" DVD (Chrome Dreams) We all 
need reminders now and then that if things had just gone 
slightly askew we xould all be debating if Beatles or Faces 
were the best band ever, rather than Mick whatshisname and 
co. We also need to remember that the fringe dudes on the 


11] 


British bluesy scene in the 60s are only eclipsed in nuttiness 
by the mods, Thanks for the reminders Mr. DVD! 


Small Press Review (POB 106 Paradise CA 95967) Poem- 
tastic! 


Alice Smith “For Lovers, Dreamers and Me” (Heroes/BBE 
29 John St. #170 NYC 10038) Soulful, dreamy torch pop that 
made me fantasize that Alice Smith sang at my corner piano 
bar. And that I had a corner piano bar. 


Snailhouse “The Silence Show” 
scratchrecords.com) Could be a little silenter. 


(Scratch, 


Snakes & Music “isabelle” (Union City 404 Adams St. 
Hoboken, NJ 07030) Sweetly venomous! 


Sneaky Pink “I Can't Wait” ep (Rubber Vomit POB 3593 
Tucson AZ 85722) 


Snitches Get Stitches “Even A Butchered Carcass Can 
Shine” (Empty POB 12301 Portland OR 97212) Motorhead 
goes to art school, gets kicked out, and then Lemmy’s throat 
gets replaced with a wolverine fighting a mongoose! 


Snowglobe “Oxytocin” (Makeshiftmusic.com) Mellowest 
Theremin ever! 


Soccer Team ““Volunteered” Civility & Professionalism” 
(Dischord) Minimalist lo fi oddness that sounds mellow and 
introspective but feels oddly like a coiled snake ready to 
explode like those comedy snakes that come out of a can of 
fake peanut brittle, except in this case with fangs and venom 
and danger involved. 


Soft Targets “(let it) ricochet” b/w “Straight Line” 
(Roostercow, roostercow.com) Guitarific! 


Scott Solter “One River” (Tell-All) If you like your 
soundscapes eerie, layered and mildly futuristic, you'll think 
this guy is a great Scott. 


So Many Dynamos “Flashlights” (Skrocki, 
Scrockirecords.com 705 N. 79" St Seattle WA 98103) Un- 
dynomo-ic 


Someday We'll All Be Free by Kevin Powell (Soft Skull) 
Powell's essays in this book paint a vivid picture of 
America’s fragile state deep in the Bush era, as the September 
11" attacks, the 2004 election, and most powerfully, the mire 
of post-Katrina New Orleans are examined in Powell's 
insightful, poetic writing. Though he certainly would not want 
to be held up as the voice of the Black man in the 21" century, 
it’s notable that Powell's background seems to allow him to 
have a certain focus that other societal critics in his 
demographic can’t have. Michael Eric Dyson's near desperate 
grasps for a younger hip-hop inflected voice and Touré’s 
devotion to the rock critic tradition don't allow them to ever 
fully make social commentary without leaning heavily on pop 
culture, which seems to be a crutch when discussing race in 
America. Powell, on the other hand, has to keep his pop 
culture talk to a minimum because he needs to distance 
himself (which he has done successfuly) from his public debut 
as the prototypical token black on reality TV (he was the first 
angry African American on Real World). By not putting too 
much focus on the rapper's responses or Bill Cosby's 
responses or fictional TV responses to Katrina, Powell is able 
to give a vivid, powerful, human perspective, and offer 
tangible, solid ideas and critiques in hopes of preventing 
future hellish disasters. This is by far the best thing he has 
ever written, 


So They Say “Antidote For irony” (Fearless) “Awful!” So I 
say. 


Jeff Scott Soto "Lost in the Translation" (Frontier Records, 
P.O. Box 2425, Trenton, NJ 08607) If you were waiting for 
the voice behind Yngwie Malmsteen's debut record "Rising 
Force" to release a solo project, WAIT NO MORE. For others 
this provides an interesting sociological study of where hair 
metal heroes go to die—a heavily produced, cliché-laden 
“melodic rock" land where whammy bars and high-pitched 
yowls rule over lesser beings. 


“The Soul Side of the Street” compilation (Dionysus) This 
collection of Phoenix soul singles (from the mid-sixties to the 
early 70s) is so ridiculously funky it’s hard to believe it’s real. 
Is this some prank by record collecting studio wizzes trying to 
perpetuate that Arizona was actually the soul capitol of 














America? But the sides are so authentic, so special and so 
devastating that they can’t be fake. Eddie and Erie's killer 
voices, the glorious guitar of Freddi and Henchi, the 
instrumental magic mess of (brace yourself) the LBJ’s, and 
the novelty music -gone-wrong, ballad of “Cecil, the 
Unwanted French Fry” are all too amazing to digest in one 
listen, so I've been listening to this non-stop for months. From 
the vaults of DJ/producer Hadley Murrell, who traveled West 
to L.A, to deal with some of this soul, this collection is one of 
the most must-have comps in a long while, humbling the 
Eccentric Soul series. 


(the sounds of) kaleidoscope “(the sounds of)” (hackshop) 
Sounds like the bubblegum music of drone psyche. Which | 
mean as a sincere compliment. 


South “Adventures In The Underground Journey to the Stars” 
(Young American) Snoozth. 


Southern Culture on the Skids “Double Wide and Live” 
(Yep Roc pob 4821 Chapel Hill NC 27515) A no-brainer: a 
live album by one of the best live bands ever! Every concert is 
a party with SCOTS and this CD is a party in jewelbox. Or a 
mojo box. Or an *-piece box of chicken although that clucker 
is one fo the few set-faves that doesn't make it onto this 
survey of fifteen eyars of hillbilly hits). Put this in your stereo 
and even the poshest condo becomes a glorious double-wide 
smelling of lard frying and dance sweat! 


South Filthy “Crackin Up” (Licorice Tree records POB 
97283 Austin TX 78709) Only Jeffrey Evans and his co-horts 
can make a Marvin Rainwater song sound like the Velvet 
Underground, a Gino Washington song sound like Gary U.S. 
Bonds, and the worst Elvis movie song sound like the best 
Elvis movie song. Throw in a sermon about the face of Jesus 
in a salsa spill and you have a new classic! 


Spain Colored Orange “Hopelessly Incapable of Standing in 
the Way” (Lucid, lucidrecords.com) Late 60s smooth psyche 
meets 70s soft rock with a daring sens of eclecticism that 
could only emerge in the itunes shuffle age. Herb Alpert, porn 
soundtracks, Bread, Brazillian prog, and the Bee Gees covers 
of the Beatles in the Sgt Pepper movie are all invoked 


SSM (Alive/Bomp) Psyche pop meets balls to the wall rock n 
roll meets something so genius that this seems like total art 
rock while simultaneously seeming like the dumbest get- 
stoned-to music you ever heard. 


Staggering Statistics “all of this and more 
Staggeringly awesome! 


" (Shake It) 


Stalkers (Dollar Record Records) If you're expecting out of 
control trash rock, forget it...this grown-up juvenile 
delinquent music, with its sock hop grooves and working 
class vibe, is in control like a hot rod racer. Also, this guy has 
a singing voice that sounds like early Brian Setzer, and | have 
frankly gotten sick of hearing Setzer crooning Bix 
Beiderbecke tunes, or whatever the hell he’s doing at 
weddings and Disney World these days, so hearing a voice 
like his actual rock n roll is a treat. 


The Standing 8 Counts “Greatest Hits” (mernoise, 
merenoise.net) They hurl a shovel full of trash at the face of 
rock n roll and then they hit it in the head with the shovel. 
Nasty sewer blues that makes me want to avoid Australian 
sewers. 


Starless & Bible Black (Locust, locustmusic.com) Ignoring 
the freak of frak-folk, this is actually just an enchanting (due 
to the seductive voice of the elegant female vocalist, mode 
more dynamic by the male-female voice interplay that opens 
the album) genuine folk pop (though not too pop, | originally 
write folk rock, thinking of early Neil Young, but abandoned 
that) album. 


Kinnie Starr “Anything” (Violet Itch) Sounds slightly better 
then Ken Starr. 


Stars and Stripes “One Man Army” (I Scream) Boston 
hardcore’s proud meathead-ism and Oi!-ing, stomping 
English hooliganism shouldn’t be as brotherly as they are 
(since when do the Irish and English get along?), but 
Hockeycore hero Choke (of Slapshot) has delivered a 
fantastic. powerful, and actually somewhat original sounding 
slab of UK-inspired pub punk. Stomp! 


Stella season one DVD box set (Comedy Central 1775 
Broadway NYC 10019) Some folks thought this show was 


anti-funny (including the New York Times) but I actually 
found it hauntingly hilarious. | couldn't stop thinking about 
episodes for days. Every word and every tiny, dumb joke 
seemed to be exquisitely placed. Each episode had more 
action than a Jonny Quest cartoon, and the experience of 
watching it was more satisfying than a jumbo Snickers. 
Watching all of these in a row is a bit exhausting, but it’s a 
good tired, like running a SK fun run after going out drinking. 


Sufjan Stevens “The Avalanche" (Asthmatic Kitty POB 1282 
Lander WY 82520) Sufferin’ Sufjan, does this dude really 
need another review? Sure he does...ten stars! He has made 
Illinois become Healthyinois! 


Still Little Fingers “handheld and rigidly digital” (MVD) 
Can you believe how fucking good these dudes still are in 
concert? 


“Still Going Strong” compilation (I Scream) Hardcore and 
streetpunk and pub rock legends and new bloods are well 
represented on this brutally rocking but gently priced CD. 
Spider Crew, Stars and Stripes, Blue Bloods, Slapshot, 
Uppercut and Agnostic Front are the highlights. 








Robert Stillman “Horses” (Mill Pond 1426 Harvard Ave, 
#52 Seattle WA 98122-3813) Extremly narrative, seemingly 
cinematic instrumental music that is more nuanced and 
diverse that the word “jazz” conveys. However, some 
passages sound like cocktail jazz, which confuses me because 
horses don’t drink cocktails. 


The Stitches “8 x 12" (Vinyl Dog 8941 Atlanta Ave #505 
Huntington Beach CA 92646) A reissue of the first Stitches 
album, this is punk as pure as zillion dollars an ounce cocaine. 
This is punk that convinced us punk was not dead, buried and 
feeding worms. This is punk. 


The Strays “Le Future Noir” (TVT) Fronted by Steve 
Marriot’s son (sounding like Joe Strummer's son), this is a 
genuinely rocking band with a gravelly, ragged (though still 
pristine) production sound masking some of the sweetest 
groovy hooks this side of hook-ville. 


Strike Anywhere “Dead FM” (Fat) Serious punk that’s 
seriously punk. Really powerful, sincere, intense songs about 
all types of injustice. And if there's any justice, everyone will 
hear this CD, and not the latest cutesy emo mad-at-a-girl song 
band. 


The Strongest Proof “One Percent” (Phratry, 
phratryrecords.com) Art rock fights artless ROCK and the 
judges call it a draw. At worst this could appeal to college 
dudes who like jambands, at best this could appeal to some 
Doogie Howser genius teen who is in grad school for 
theoretical space math. 


Struggle In The Hive (Radical Turf/future appletree) 
Struggle to stay awake. 


112 


Suburban Kids with Biblical Names “#3” (Minty Fresh) 
This actually sounds like strange, catchy music made by little 
kids. But kids with deep, weirdo voices. Sounds sorta like 
Jonathan Richman and Morrissey collaborating. 
Summer Hymns “Backward Masks” (Misra, 
misrarecords.com) Summer Bummer. 


Sunpilots “Honeytrap” (myspace.com.thesunpilots) Better 
than the actual sun! 


Super No One “food for coral” (supernoone.com POB 1451 
Elmhurst, IL 60126) You know who will think this is super? 
EVERYONE! 


The Super Scary Monster Show comic by Walker and jones 
(Slave Labor Graphics) | think | may have given a lukewarm 
review to this in the past, but I recant...cute little evil monster 
children are awesome! It's like the Groovie Goolies with 
killing! 


Super XX Man “X” (Hush) Lovely husband and wife songs 
about sadness, hope and the power of words. Gentle music 
that's made jarring by the conviction of the lyrics and the 
exquisiteness of the instrumental spareness. 


Support zine (Microcosm) A genuinely moving journal for 
sex abuse survivors, and it’s jarring how broad the spectrum 
of abuse and victims can be, One of the most sincere and 
together zines I've read in a while. 


Dan Susnara “Cusp,” Micky Saunders/Dan Susnara “The 
Hello People” ep ($5 each, 7806 S. Kilpatrick Chicago IL 
60652) Micky and Dan are the perky early Beatles, but Dan 
alone is serious John Lennon solo. 


Swan Island “The Center Will Hold” (Holocene) These 
songs are not good enough. 


The Sweater Club “five more minutes” (sweaterclub.com) 
These Ska horns have turned their bells towards some serious, 
challenging ideas (both musically and lyrically). Is a ska horn 
still a ska horn if it’s serious? Can you make prog rock with 
Jamaican riddims? Can I use “ska” as a word in Scrabble? 
Like all great albums this provides more questions than 
answers. 


Swell Maps “Wastrels and Whippersnappers” (Get Hip) 
Though we wont be hearing any new material from the sadly 
departed Sudden/Soundtracks brothers, amazingly we will be 
hearing some old-assed stuff that cements their place in punk 
history. This collection of 70s teenage bedroom recordings 
might bring to mind Cramps, Pistols, Sonics, Sonic Youth, 
Clash, Sweet, and a zillion other bands, but what it really 
sounds like is some kids who had something special being 
genuine kids and just exploring rock n roll. There is a claim 
on this that even bootleg collectors have never heard this stuff 
(though their version of the Batman theme appears on the 
recent Batman tribute LP) so this is essential. 


System and Station “here is now” (Latest Flame) Change the 
word “System” to “Rock” and the word “Station” to “Roll” 
and you have an apt description of this mighty band. 


Sytek & Davies “from the shadow of the citadel” (LMR POB 
535 Lawrence MI 49064) Hauntingly beautiful music that 
uses the oddest and creepiest aspects of folk music to jar and 
capture the listener. 


“Take Action Volume 5” compilation (Sub City) A bunch of 
bands (over 40 tracks) that you might like. Especially if 
you're 19, 


Take My Chances “down here with us” (One Day Savior 
POB 372 Wilson Park, NY 11596) Hurricane hardcore that 
mad me glad to feel mad, and made me mad at everything. 


Talmage Farlow DVD (MVD) This DVD releases a 
shamefully obscure public TV documentary done years ago 
about this elusive jazz guitar master turned sign painter. 
Fantastic live music footage and great sign painting footage 
make this a must-see. There's some great bonus footage that 
is pretty insightful about documentary making. We see a reel 
where a young jazz star visits the old master and we are privy 
to the raw footage where they have the dude walk down the 
sidewalk and ring the bell over and over till it looks good 
enough. 





Tenki “We're Not Talking About the Universe, Are We (#1)” 
(Future Appletree) Tenk you veddy much! For being beautiful 
music makers. 


Terminals “Takin’ Care of Brooks” ep (Boom Chick 6405 
Morrill Ave Lincoln NE 68507) This band is definitely super 
good (or gloriously bad) live. This single has 17 feet of rock 
squeezed into 7 inches. Like your intestines feeding into your 
colon, 


Téte De Bébé (S-S Records 1114 21" St. Sacramento CA 
95814) An international compilation of beyond-No Wave 
strange-core bands that all make appealing, relatively non- 
abrasive music that still manages to seem completely insane 
and delightfully offensive. Highlights include Crack and 4ltra 
Excema, Volt, Lili Z and the brilliant Dragibus. 


The Theater Fire “Everybody Has A Dark Side” 
(Undeniable 381 Casa Linda Plaza PMB 167 Dallas TX 
75218) Twang meets toot (as in mariachi horns, not cocaine)! 
I'm glad they met. 


Theraphosa “blondi” (Phratry) TheraPERFECT! Oddball 
asymmetrical post-post rock that clouds the listening room in 
an atmosphere of hazy genius-ness, 


The Thermals “the body the blood the machine” (Sub Pop) 
Awful indie music infused with outrage and urgency, which 
doesn't help as much as you'd think, 


Thirteen Ghosts “Cicada” (Skybucket) A glorious musical 
mess that does everything you can think of and does it all 
awesomely. 


This Day & Age “the bell and the hammer” (11 1 records.com) 
The only Warped Tour band ready for Lite-FM airplay. 


Thor “Devastation of Musculation" (Smog Veil, 
SmogVeil.com) Thor! While Thor's combination of metal and 
theatrical absurdity is always fun and funny (his drummer is 
named Panthar) this is definitely his best album in terms of 
music and lyrics, and it actually borders on the serious. Using 
comic book/Middle Earth/Metal cliché language he actually 
conveys some spowerful (Thor!) ideas about the hypocrisy, 
extremism and our place in the universe. It, of course, is also 
really about vampires, superheroes and barbarian warriors. 
Thor! 


Three Fifths “It's Worth It For the Rumors” (Spade Kitty, 
spadekitty,com) Sixty percent boring. 


Throbbin Urges (Dead Beat POB 283 LA, CA 90078) Over 
the top, super powered, ultra rock, This rocks so hard it isn't 
even a genre, just a natural force of rock, Rocks. 


Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers "Down To Kill" 
2CD/DVD (Jungle Records) Recommended rarities package. 
Most of this stuff, I've never seen or heard, and neither have 
you. '76 pre-L.A.M.F, demos (not to be confused with the '77 
alternate mixes released earlier by Jungle), including yet 
another version of “Can't Keep My Eyes On You " with 
vocals by Jerry Nolan (he was a singin’ motherfucker, too) 
and another fine, uncredited vocal by, could it be, Jerry (?) on 
“Take a Chance,” and the usual Thunders barnburners, like 
"Born To Lose" and "I Love You,” plus versions of "I Wanna 
Be Loved" and "Get Off The Phone” with vocals by 
absolutely no one (I swear, my ex called when [ was listening 
to the latter). There's also a studio version of “Flight,” Walter 
Lure's terrific Psych number that didn’t survive the '76 lineup 
change (Richard Hell lasted just long enough to record this), 
but did get a nice revision via The Waldos. I didn't think The 
Heartbreakers ever did this one in the studio! Goes to show 
how much I know. There's also a version of Walter singing 
"Street Fighting Man,” backed by THE RAMONES!!! Lure 
provided (uncredited) guest guitar on some of The Ramones’ 
best mid-period recordings, but if you knew about this session 
(a demo for an absent Joey to use as a vocal template), you 
were either there, or you're a liar. By the way, it smokes! So 
does a legit re-release of the excellent 45 by The Heroes 
(finally!!). The Heroes’ single, recorded in London, featured 
Walter Lure, Billy Rath, Steve Nicol from Eddie and The Hot 
Rods and later Thunders sideman, Henri-Paul. As Lure points 
out (in an excellent enclosed interview by Thunders/Dolls 
biographer, Nina Antonia), he kept the name for his first post- 
Heartbreakers band, when he returned to New York (though 
his other band, The Blessed, aren't mentioned). From there, 
we go to two previously released (but, who cares?) '77 demos, 
and that's just the first CD! The second CD includes both sets 
from the legendary "D.T.K" gig, recorded at The Speakeasy 


in London in May, 1977. Like a latter-day Nero, Johnny sets 
fire to London with his guitar. For continuity's sake, the 
original, previously released, portion is included here, "But, 
we'll be back! I hope you fuckin’ kids take SOMETHING!! 
YOU'RE FUCKIN' BORING THE SHIT OUTTA ME!!" 
This couldn't bore the shit out of a colostomy bag. Trust me. 
All the expletives hurled at the jaded London audience...Oh, 
My! But, who was being: baited, here? You can hear abuse 
going both ways. I once saw Johnny, all 90 Ibs. of him, 
pounce on a much larger, skinhead guy for throwing a bottle 
near his head. He had to be physically restrained from getting 
all New York on macho man's ass. I only wish that Johnny 
could have lived to get a supporting role on "The Sopranos.” 
He would have been perfect (ask Little Steven). The DVD has 
quite a few enjoyable oddities for your perusal, starting off 
with raw footage from the 1984 London Lyceum 
Heartbreakers reunion gig, including soundcheck. Unlike the 
(otherwise) excellent Video/DVD, "Dead or Alive,” this isn’t 
The Heartbreakers lip-synching to their own live 
performances. From there, we go to Johnny doing four 
acoustic songs, live in the studio. He seems relaxed and pretty 
together on these sessions. Another London gig, from the 
famed Marquee Club, finds Johnny considerably less together, 
with a three piece Heartbreakers lineup (you can briefly make 
out a second guitarist who splits after the first number, but, 
Waldo, The Werewolf of Wall Street, appears to be a no- 
show). Still, it's not too bad, it's just not Johnny and Co, 
playing at full strength. Chances are, though, that if you ever 
saw Johnny in the 80s, as I did, it wasn’t as good as this. 
Highlights include "Little Bit Of Whore,” a soundcheck 
rendition of Sam Cooke's " Don't Mess With Cupid" (a staple 
in the early Dolls' set), and a rare live version of "Who Do 
Voodoo,” which originally name-checked Eddie Cochran and 
Gene Vincent several years before the Rockabilly Revival 
took off in The U.S. (Johnny and his boys hung out with Levi 
and The Rockats, Jerry even joined ‘em for a while, and they 
even considered taking a gig backing Robert Gordon! Brian 
Setzer was still playing with the underrated Bloodless 
Pharoahs when all this was happening). There's also a collage 
of Swedish papers during Johnny's temporary ban in that 
country (not for drugs, but for supposedly taking work away 
from Swedish musicians while he temporarily made his home 
base in Stockholm. His guitarist at the time, Mikael Thimren, 
was Swedish, as are The Nomads, who procured him to play 
lead on “Beyond The Valley of The Dolls,” for which he 
accepted a standard studio musician's fee). What's funny is, 
‘one of the newspaper photos said to be of Johnny is actually a 
picture of Kid Congo Powers! With a moustache, yet! Did 
Johnny EVER have facial hair ?! I've never even seen a 
picture of him with a Five O'Clock shadow, Closing things 
out, there's footage from an apparently unfinished French film 
featuring our boy (some of this footage appears in "Dead or 
Alive,” but there's more of it, here), who proves a pretty 
decent method actor (he wouldn't have won any Oscars for 
his supporting role in "What About Me," but, he wasn’t bad). 
At least Johnny's estate isn't bullshitting the fans, like RCA 
did with Elvis Presley, by saying, "That's all there is, there 
ain't no more.” You owe it to yourself to check out the classic 
Dolls/Heartbreakers/solo Johnny recordings, but, if you've 
already done that, and can't shake the jones, there's more 
where that came from, right here. Music, unlike dope, delivers 
the goods, and stays with you after the fact. Anyone who ever 
thought, somehow, that junk was cool or glamorous only has 
themselves to blame, not Johnny, not Keef, not Lou. Even if 
so-called "fans" only paid to see how fucked up Johnny might 
turn up on stage, there were times when he could leave them 
choking on their own preconceptions. 





Tijuana Hercules “The Undertaker Cancelled” b/w “Fighting 
Off the Evil Eye” (Black Pisces 4935 N. Mozart Chicago IL 
60625) Tasteful Halloween rock that’s equal parts trash and 
class, 


Todd “Comes To Your House" (Southern) Should be called 
Godd because they rock that fucking righteously. Though they 
probably hate Jesus, 


Tones and Notes zine (Dwelling Portably POB 190-dd, 
Philomath OR 97370) Bert wants to free sheet music from its 
oppressive, confusing traditions (not to mention copyrights, 
but that’s another issue) by developing more accurate, easy to 
read, sensible forms of tablature, a system that works cross- 
instrument-ally and makes sight reading easier. This 
fascinating zine chronicles his developments (with the help of 
some similarly-invested (or open-minded ) readers. 


Too Negative comix (Jenny Gonzalez POB 22477 Brooklyn 
NY 11202-2477) Wicked underground sexy satanic punk 
nastiness! 


113 


Toothfairy “Does Not Work Well With Reality” (Noiseville, 
noiseville.com 147 Main St. Cold Spring NY 10516) Sounds 
like BMRC with joy in their lives and a sense of good music. 


Zeno Tornado and the Boney Google Brothers “Lover of 
your Dreams” (Voodoo Rhythm, voodoorhythm.com) 
Reminds me of the creepy, non-American hillbilly horror 
music of the Beasts of Bourbon, but this has more of an 
authentic haunted honkytonk flavor, This is music that will 
make you fall in love. Then make you lie and/or kill. 


Clare Torry “Heaven in The Sky” (RPM) The selling point 
of this archival compilation of work Ms. Torry sang on is that 
she was the guest female vocalist on Pink Floyd's “Dark Side 
of the Moon” LP (on “The great Gig in the Sky”). Though 
that's an interesting bit of trivia, nobody should have such 
Pink Floyalty as to buy this just because of that, because 
though she has a pleasant singing voice she definitely spent 
the sixties and seventies singing, often as a session worker, on 
some of the worst examples of bad British pop imaginable. If 
it isn’t the terrible arrangements, or bad lyrics (“the delicious 
flavour of your delightful candy kisses”) it’s the worst covers 
you've ever heard. “Can't You Hear My Heartbeat” sounds 
like it's sung by a square mom in a talent show, Dolly 
Parton's “Love is Like a Butterfly” makes Dolly seem like a 
hack songwriter, and worst of all is a dreary pseudo- 
Jamaican-style take on “My Boyfriend's Back” which 
demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of what makes 


pop music pop. 


Tortoise “A Lazarus Taxon” (Thrill Jockey) 12 pounds of 
genius in a 10 pound sack! Lots of dance and groove and rock 
mixed in with the stand -around-and-be-smart stuff makes 
this music and video box set truly boxtastic! 


Total Chaos “Freedom Kills” (SOS) Doomsday-themed punk 
apocalypse record is awesome because it's awesome but more 
awesome because what streetpunk band has a concept album? 


Towers of London “Blood, Sweat and Towers," “How Rude 
She Was"ep (TVT) The first singles made me think that 
maybe this band didn't suck, but this makes me think that 
maybe they do, Great hair, though. 


Toy Dolls “Our Last DVD?” DVD (MVD) Yes, there are 
punk fans who don't like the buoyant, silly Toy Dolls. But 
such fans are dumb assholes. A convincingly silly live set 
from 2004 that comes off like the Dickies on helium. 


Track a Tiger “Woke up early the day I died” (future 
appletree POB 191 Davenport IA 52805) Joyously miserable 
music that will make you happy to be sad, 


Tractor Sex Fatality “Black Magic White Pussy” (Big Neck 
POB 8144 Reston VA 20196) This record is so good that I 
didn't learn my lesson...I threw this noise punk exposo music 
CD into my tractor's CD player, had sex with the vehicle, and 
died. 


Trainwreck Riders “Lovely Road Revival” (Alive) Old-time 
is the new new time! 


Trentalange “photo album of complex relationships” (Coco 
Tauro, cocotauro.com) Does she sound complex? Moody? Or 
Bored? I know which one | feel? 


Trespassers W “the noble family of rock ‘n’ roll” 
(Somnimage POB 24 Bradley IL 60915) Old time rock ‘n’ 
roll turned inside out, by starting with No Wave, abandoning 
it, going to a Berlin art school, surviving abuses there (and 
from creepy older relatives), spending time in music halls, old 
man bars, honkytonks, and a dominatrix's cavern, and then 
played to a crowd of intellectual leprechauns. So this is 
actually very rock n roll. 


Frank Tribes “Blade” (franktribes.com, 4312 N. Newcastle 
Harwood Heights, IL 60706) Frankly I'm happy to be a 
member of this smooth-voiced singer-songwriter’s tribe. 


Tron comic (Slave Labor Graphics, pob 26427 SF CA 95159) 
Looks great. But it’s a Tron comic. 


Trophyscars “Alphabet, Alphabets.” (Death Scene, 
thedeathscene.com) Scarring, Not in a good way. 


Truckfighters “Gravity X,” Truckfighters/Firestone split 
CD (Fuzzorama, fuzzorama.com) Truckfighters are a 
sludgeheavy psyche steamroller and their album is a cool 














breath of destruction. On the split they trade blows with a 
band that rocks and fuzzes a little more typicly, but still 
pummels impressively. 


Amelia Tshilds “Painted Tiles” (fallenfan.com) Tslovely, 
Tsmagical and a little Tsexy. 


Tungsten 74 “Binaurally Yours” (Technical Echo) Blue 
Cheer goes to art school. 


Bruce Turgon “Outside looking In” (Locomotive) Bassist 
Turgon and his longtime collaborator/songwriting partner Lou 
Gramm are best known for their connections to Foreigner, so 
they are no foreigners to extremely catchy melodic rock. This 
is a pretty good record. So what if it harkens back to another 
era, great, dramatic rock is timeless. 


TV Party - The Documentary, TV Party — premiere episode 
(Brink/MVD) From 1978 to 1982 New York scenester Glenn 
O' Brien helmed perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most 
historic, cable access show in history. The columnist for Andy 
Warhol's /nterview magazine knew everyone, and when he 
decided to emulate the Playboy After Dark TV show — 
simulating a party on the air and working musical and talk 
show guests into the party — he got everyone! In the Ed 
McMahon chair was Blondie’s Chris Stein (his gal Debbie 
Harry subsequently became a regular), the character generator 
(the device that types titles on the air) was run by Jean-Michel 
Basquiat, who on occasion would practice his text-based art 
by randomly typing polemics across the TV screen during the 
live cablecast, and the token black was Fab 5 Freddy, who 
later would revolutionize cable TV as MTV’s token black, 
ushering in the Hip Hop revolution. The band played 
experimental noisy art rock, and they damn well played it 
better than Doc Seversin's band could have played it. Live 
musical guests included David Byrne, John Lurie and Charles 
Rocket, who was fired from Saturday Night Live for saying 
“fuck,” but welcomed to a show where anyone could say fuck 
anytime. Or could smoke pot. Or could take obscene phone 
calls, Or could fight. Or could be political or sexual or 
Outrageous or very boring. It was a bizarre, dynamic free for 
all, where theme shows like Caveman Show, Sex Show or the 
Crusades Show were high concept off-season Halloween 
bacchanals, Of course the camerawork was inept, the sound 
was iffy and the high hipsters were less clever than they 
thought, but it was better than anything on commercial TV 
Ever. This series of DVDs includes an amazing feature length 
documentary with appearances by George Clinton, James 
Chance and the cable access engineer who begrudgingly 
oversaw this mess. There are also a series of single episodes 
released and the purity of their chaos is remarkable 


12 Cent Donkey “Where There Are No Roads" (Gulcher) So 
ambient that I'm not sure this is actually music. 


2 Cents “Lost At Sea” (EASTWEST) Worth it 


Two Gallants “what the toll tells” (Saddle Creek POB 8554 
Omaha NE 68108) Punk intensity in the vocals yet this isn’t 
punk rock, this is really Americana — but with the passion and 
trouble that is way more American than Americana that’s 
nostalgic and precious. 


Ugly Things magazine (PO Box 4121 La Mesa, CA 91941, 
www.ugly-things.com) Better than this magazine. 


Uncle Scratch’s Gospel Revival “North of Hell” (Rock N 
Roll Purgatory POB 276258 San Antonio TX 78227) 
Evangelical rockelical ‘n' rollelical that’sswellical and 
awesome as helical, 


The Unemployed (theunemployed.net, 9040 Hawthorn Dr 
Hickory Hills, IL 60457) Youthful super-fun pop that made 
me glad to be employed in a job where I get free, unjustly 
obscure CDs. 


Unexpect “in a flesh aquarium” (The End) Canadian death- 
prog-art rock weirdness with piano runs and time signature 
turmoil and every kind of singing voice imaginable thrown 
into an Operatic chaos mix. And you still wouldn't know what 
to expect after reading this. 


Untied States “Retail Detail" (untiedstates.us) So 
experimental it drove me mental yet so guitar rock hooky it 
got me nooky 


Untitled (Band), An Antal Grevens Intervention by Thom 
van der Dorf (Victorvision Shorts) This brilliant short takes 
some awful looking band performing on Suturday Night Live 


and redubs every vocal and instrument to perfection, but 
reimagines each note as laid back and Jandek—as-a-caveman- 
like. This might be way funnier if | knew who the band was, 
but the stiff, aging vocalist lazily singing “oooh ahh ohh ahh 
uhhh...” is pretty fucking funny any way you slice it 





Bob Urh and the Barebones “Boom Boom a Zoom Zoom” 
b/w “Ramblin Man” (ultraproductions.org) | love this Urh 
gent! Creepiest Hank Williams cover since the Sneezy Waters 
movie about Hank. 





Some thine has gone horribly wrong 

o¢ Nant? 
Urokani DJ Zdena “Ni vrit ni mimo" (Listen Loudest!) A 
double CD of lo-fi progressive laid back dance grooves, It's 


true, everything sounds groovier in Croatian. 


Nightmare #2 


The Vacation (American) Dumb, good looking rockers 
making dumb good looking rock that rocks so hard you will 
start using GnR and T-Rex CDs for drink coasters (for your 
straight from the bottle Jack Daniels) b ecause you wont need 
them anymore. 


Sal Valentino "Come Out Tonight" (Fat Pete) The celebrated 
former lead singer of The Beau Brummels returns with a 
decidedly laid back collection of songs, perfect for late night 
listening, by the fireplace, if you have one (but, please, not a 
virtual fireplace on your computer). At first listen, it evokes 
early R.E.M., e.g. the "Chronic Town" EP. That's not 
necessarily a bad thing. as R.E.M. built almost their entire 
early career on The Beau Brummels’ classic, "Don't Talk To 
Strangers" (think about it), Valentino remains entrenched 
firmly in Folk-Rock soil, but you won't hear much Byrdsian 
“Jingle Jangle" guitar here. "Come Out Tonight" is a more 
personal affair, propelled mainly by acoustic guitars, with 
"Rock" embellishments here and there. Sal's voice, now more 
raspy, though dynamically as sound as ever, is enhanced by 
the production and instrumental backing of Freddie "Steady" 
Kre, of The Shakin’ Apostles and The Explosives, Roky 
Erickson's past and present backing band. Valentino and Kre 
are joined by a full band, though their contributions come and 
go thru the mix like so many little tricklings of flame in the 
campfire around which Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper 
turned Jack Nicholson on to "the chronic,” maan (that is, if it 
hadn't been his last deed). In fact, the two celebrated with an 
all star revue in Austin, featuring Kre's band, The Freddie 
Steady Five, Valentino, Lanier Greg (Moving Sidewalks, 
early ZZ Top), Mike Claxton (the Sherwoods), and The Great 
One, Roky Erickson. Unfortunately, an ex-member of Josefus 
(who recorded the proto-Stooges epic, "Dead Man") crashed 
the stage, and stunk the place up with some bad bar band 
covers, Valentino's bare-boned take on "Folsom Prison Blues" 
made me forget, momentarily, how overdone the song is 
(Johnny DID have some other great songs, y'know) 
"Catherine | Do,” co-written by Valentino, may be the song to 
really watch out for. It resembles classic Love at times. 
“Lookin' For You,” also written by Sal and John Blakeley, has 
a cool Texas/Louisiana border twang, dripping with swamp 
grease, that'd do Dale Hawkins (who's been diagnosed with 
cancer. Pray hard) proud. "Grease The Wheel,” by Sal's good 
friend, the late Jimmy Silva, sounds like a track from the 


114 











album Doug Sahm threatened to make with Dylan, but, alas, 
never did (iit would have been called “Zimmy Goes Tex- 
Mex,” according to Doug), and the album's opener, "All The 
Places,” also written by Silva, foresees new beginnings, and 
that's what it’s all about, friends. 





Chad VanGaalen “Skelliconnection" (Sub Pop) Imdie means 
never having to say what genre of music you make and genius 
means doing it all brilliantly. Should be named Chad 
VanA WESOME. 


Variant Cause “Excavating Volume 1" (Variantcause.com, 
POB 363 Astoria OR 97103) 1980s Pacific Northwest rock 
that combines New Wave, bar rock, blues, jazzy weirdness, 
artsy aspirations and skid row-low expectations, The opening 
track is called “Kamikaze Cabaret,” and that may as well be 
this band's genre. I love to hear reissues that don't fit into 
those category for which countless reissues exist. Or any 
category for that matter. 


Velcro Lewis and his 100 Proof Band “the oven's on" 
(Blinded Tiger, velcrolewis.com) This will maul you with 
rock! The awesome organ driven “Velvet Jungle” will send 
you on a Whiskey Safari 


Velveeta Heartbreak “I Shot the Invisible Man” b/w “Secret 
Beach Boys Fans” (Semper Lo Fi/Bowman PMB 111 - 144 
N. 7" St. Brooklyn NY 11211) While the Beach Boys 
homage, which is really an instrumental, but they throw in 
some singing two thirds in, was just tinklingly decent (though 
props for giving Carl some love), the rocking invisocide song 
was as good as the title, which means it was goddamn 
awesome. 


Velvet “The Juggernaut” (Double Decker Bus) Southern fried 
power pop, which means it mixes some blues with its jangle 
Contains both kinds of hooks - the bubblegum kind and the 
classic rock kind. 


Velvet Underground Under Review DVD (Chrome Dreams) 
One of the best Under Review DVDs because there is such a 
compact history that it can be thoroughly covered, and 
because Moe Tucker is interviewed, and nobody is cooler 
than moe Tucker. There's some really boss archival footage. 
and if any band ever lent itself to music experts jabbering, its 
VU. And it isn’t bullshit to talk about a band like this at 
length. You have to! 


Vendome "Place" (Locomotive) Wham Bam Ven Dome! 


Venice is Sinking “s/t,” Venice is Sinking/What We Do Is 
Secret split CD (One Percent Press, 115 Landfall Circle 
Savannah GA 31410) Sweet strumming, and ethereal organ 
allow the music of Venice is Sinking to float listeners away 
on surprisingly solid (considering their seductive translucence 
and fluffiness) sonic clouds. What We Do is Secret makes 
melodramatic, strange story music as tense and foreboding as 
VIS is relaxed, yet they too are so seductive that this pairing 
makes sense. 


Venus Hum “The Colors In The Wheel” (Nettwerk, 
nettwerk.com) Electro-acoustic dreamy music that made me 
fall in love with my blender. 


Versus the Mirror “Home” (Equal Vision POB 38202 
Albany NY 12203) Yucch. 


Vervein “The Weather Inside” (Scenery) With their 
atmospheric post-shoegazer rock complimented with mellow 
but spooky vocals Vervein will get into yer veins. 


Vice Squad “Defiant” (SOS POB 3017 Corona, CA 92878) 
The same band in theory that’s been around for decades, but 
this is a totally different lineup with punk structures and 
themes slicked up, Metalized and sexified. More viceful than 
ever 





VietNam (Kemado) Lushly luxurious la la la 


The Vile Lovers Club “n.b.s.n.c.” (Big Neck POB 8144 
Reston VA 20195) The vocalist of baseball Furies, one of the 
most explosive garage punk in history, dials it down to create 
a suite of slinky tunes that channel the power of glam without 
the bubblegum, the decadence of cabaret without the eyeliner 











and the power of the Velvet Underground without the art. 
Maybe the best Chicago records of the year. 


Sonny Vincent “P.I.N.S.” (NDN, ndnrecords.com)’ New York 
punk rock lost legend Vincent has been rediscovered, 
lionized, and given the CD space to stretch out. And 
thankfully he decided to not stretch much: this is blazing 
guitar punk at its simplest and purest. Evil twins, drugs and 
TV are the villains, Vincent's riffs and a 3-D titty CD sleeve 
are the heroes. And a disc 2 set of rarities, live cuts, and 
talking trash (about Bush amongst others) makes this the Best 
of Sonny... get your share! 


Violins “Pink Water” (Contraphonic) The Stradivariuses of 
Chicago smart pop. 


Visionary Sequential Narritives comix by David Stawar 
(myspace.com/givemeabjmusic) Any comic that opens with a 
swastika made of sperm squirting penises and gets better as it 
goes on is a masterpiece in my meager mind. 


Viva La Foxx “I Knew It Wasn't Love But...” (Shake It, 
shakeitrecords.com) Viva La Fuck Yeah! This is what rock 
‘n’ roll is allabout, and it's great to hear that Shake It, the 
label that understood a 60s garage punk revival back in the 
70s still has an ear for ragged magic. 


Volumen “Science Faction” (Wantage) They are a rock 
hammer and you are the non-galvanized raock fan nail, 
helplessly absorbing their pummeling blows. 


Jeff Walker und Die Fluffers “Welcome to Carcass County” 
(Fractured Transmitter POB 33518 Cleveland OH 44133) 
Walker (of Carcass) gathered an all-star extreme music crew 
to recreate the scary misery of(primarily 1970s) Country 
classics. Instead of just accelerating to grindcore speeds, these 
are pretty traditional arrangements of Kenny Rogers, Kris 
Kristofferson, John Denver, Neil Young (?) and even classic 
Hank Williams numbers. There is a just an extra sense of evil 
infused as the tone of each instrument, each vocal expression, 
and each recording technique adds an aura of menace that 
these songs probably deserve. This will honky your tonk. 


Walter Meego “Hollywood” w/Keyhole” 
(waltermeego.com/Brilliante) This wont just make you 
dance...it will make you love again! 


Travis Wammack "The Psychedelic Years-Live” (Muscle 
Shoals Music Marketing, 1203 E. 3rd St. Tuscumbia, 
Alabama 35674. www.traviswammack.com) In 1968, a year 
before this recently-unearthed recording was made, tThe 
Yardbirds did their last big tour of the states, often supporting 
Blue Cheer, who got top billing because they had a hit single 
and album at the time. Both bands were recorded on four 
track, probably by the same person, and the tapes were traded 
and bootlegged for years to come. Try’ to imagine standing in 
the middle of both bands playing their ‘68 sets at the same 
time, and you have a pretty good idea of what this frantic live 
set, recorded on reel-to-reel, sounds like. Travis Wammack, 
* THEE boundary-pushing guitarist between Link Wray and 
Davie Allan, can be heard playing (by and large) the hits of 
the day (though, if you're put off by that, then, someone's a 
fool, and it sure ain't me or Travis), with no shortage of 
screamin’ fuzztone/sustain fire and brimstone fretwork 
Wammack's best recordings relied on a minimum of effects 
pedals (he even politely declined an endorsement deal for 
Gibson's first fuzzbox, mainly because he didn't feel it 
sounded enough like his own homemade fuzztone), but, given 
access to the likes of the Big Muff Pi and Fuzz Face (or 
whatever's making that insane racket!), he jumps at the chance 
to make these cover tunes his own, with a plethora of sound 


barrier-breaking tones, all set to the key of "A,” for “Assault.” F 


The one original tune contained here, the devastating "Firefly" 
(which was the flipside to his first hit,” Scratchy"), sounds 
almost exactly like the record, sans psychedelic 
embellishments. This was just a club date in Memphis, so it's 
possible Wammack wasn't concentrating on his own material 
too much at the time (or that, possibly, he played more of it in 
the later set?). Rest assured, Travis plays many of his killer 
60s instros in his live show today, if. like myself, you're lucky 
enough to see him. His choice of covers is pretty good, all 
things considered. From the opener, a very cool sendup of the 
Neil Diamond/Deep Purple classic, "Kentucky Woman,” 
Wammack segues into a LONG version of "Smokestack 
Lightning” that sounds like Beck and/or Page-era Yardbirds, 
followed by cool versions of “I Got a Line on You,” "Na Na 
Na Na (Hey, Hey, Kiss Him Good Bye"), which is actually a 
great song, regardless of your views on it's saturation via the 
Chicago White Sox, plus a smokin’ medley of "Shotgun," 






"Who's Makin’ Love,” and about a dozen James Brown songs, 
including, strangely enough, the Black Power anthem, * I 
Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (open Up The 
Door, I'll Get It Myself).” Make no mistake, Travis may be as 
white as my sorry ass, but, when it comes to singing, he's got 
soul to spare. He doesn't sound the least bit awkward feeling 
his low down Southern Soul cheerios. Still, it's those guitar 
freakouts that keep calling me back. Nearly every song, here, 
bears his distinctive power-mad feedback excursions, all of 
which stand loud and proud beside Damaged Guitar Gods like 
Beck and Page in their prime, Leigh Stephens, Ron Asheton, 
or even The Velvets and the early Alice Cooper Group 
Wammack was definitely not out of touch then, nor is he, 
now. The influence of a still-living Hendrix seemingly 
permeates his version of “You Don't Love Me,” though it's 
fair to say Jimi's own “Power To Love" is a thinly veiled 
cover version of said tune. Travis puts away his gadjets and 
doohickeys for the closer, a terrific sendup of one of the 
greatest Novelty-Rockers of all time, "Gitarzan.” If possible, 
it might even be better than Ray Steven's original version. The 
REAL Gitarzan, aided by his band members, acts out all three 
characters from the song, with hysterically effective results! 
I'm reminded of the time, around 1976, that I saw some band 
ata car show doing a medley of "Troglodyte" and "Gitarzan,” 
with the singer donning an apeman mask to get into character. 
It's THAT cool. This is mindbending late 60s acid guitar, ina 
bloodless coup with tuff Cracker-Soul vocals and cool songs, 
besides. If you don't feel like gettin’ it on, don't order this CD. 
But, if you do... 






Oh +he nur int 
ultimate pr for bad des4 
Warmed Over Band (Modernist) Japanese pop rock 
geniuses! Japaneniuses! 





4 


“Warped Tour °06” (Sideonedummy) Lotsa bands, pretty 
diverse (Bedouin Soundclash, Joan Jett, Matches, NOFX) and 
mostly not awful. Oops, | missed the tour. Maybe next 
Summer, 


The Warriors (Voiceprint, www.voiceprint.co.uk) The 
Warriors’ biggest claim to fame is that this above-average 
British Beat band featured two still very active musicians that 
went on to bigger and (well, mostly) better things. Ian 
Wallace, became one of the most in-demand drummers in 
Britain, perhaps the world. He went on to play with, among 
others, Cyril Davies, Steve Marriott, Johnny Hallyday, King 
Crimson, Billy Burnette, and, would you believe, very nearly, 
the monks ?!! Wallace was an old friend of the band from the 
days when The Warriors and the monks shared bils on The 
Reeperbahn. He was scheduled to lay down the uberbeat with 
our boys, who were called back to duty in Vegas and 
Barcelona in drummer, Roger Johnston's, unfortunate 
absence, and, sadly, his death. Wallace announced that he 
would have to decline the honor. "He had the CHEEK!,” Gary 
Burger told me, "The absolute CHEEK to tell us he couldn't 
do it, because he's been called on to play drums for an artist 
called MADONNA!!” Wallace, having chosen The Mother of 
God over God, remains friends with the monks, just the same. 
The other future luminary in The Warriors was a leather- 
lunged Paul McCartney soundalike. By that, | mean he 


115s 





sounded like The Cute One when the latter sounded like Little 
Richard, and that's it. With the only Beatle covers in this live 
set being foot-in-ass screamin’ sendups of "She's A Woman" 
and "I'm Down,” you can see that The Warriors were as true 
to the "Beat" sound as a band could be in September, 1965, 
when The Beatles were well into, um...experimentation. This 
singer handled straight Rock n’ Roll, Soul, and Rn’ B material 
with equal amounts of conviction, and probably could have 
handled Country and Rockabilly just as well, for that matter. 
So, who would have guessed he'd turn out not to be Paul 
Rodgers or even Rod Stewart, but Jon Anderson from Yes, or 
his Brother, Tony (Jon has been separately credited with lead 
and backing vocals). At any rate, The Warriors, even in their 
increasingly drunken state, prove to be a top notch Beat 
collective, delivering crack renditions of Rufus Thomas' 
"Jump Back, Baby,” "(Now and Then, There's) A Fool Such 
As I" (Elvis), “" Hit The Road, Jack" (the Genius), 
“Something's Got a Hold On Me" (Etta James), "Too Much 
Monkey Business (happy 80th, Chuck), and the impossible to 
fuck up Aaron Neville classic, "Fortune Teller,” plus some 
real obscure gems, one or two of which could be group 
originals, The band and their audience seem to be having a lot 
of fun, as I have had, with repeated listenings. Obviously, this 
couldn't have been released back in the day, due to the 
somewhat off the cuff nature of the performances (hey, if this 
was The Warriors not playing at the peak of their powers, it's 
as good or better than much of the competition, at any rate), 
the mumbling, frequently "blue" nature of their stage banter 
(even resorting to the old Lennon staple, "Fookin’ Nazis!,” 
even tho' they were in Bolton, not Hamburg). Though the 
sound quality lacks a bit, real live documents of this era are 
few and far behind, so, if you dig the likes of Pre-Epstein 
Beatles, Rattles, Big Three, Swingin’ Blue Jeans, or even 
modern Beatmeisters like The Kaisers, this release will put 
you there, minus the fights and the ungodly heat of a real 
underground "Beat" club. 


Wau Y Los Arrrghs!!! “Cantan En Espanol” (Voodoo 
Rhythm) Few 60s garage rock recreationists make records 
that are anything other than catalogues of cut ‘n paste 
copycatisms. Wau Y Los Arrrghs (best band name since the 
60s) actually make incredibly genuine, danceable, wild music 
that is completely original in its complete unoriginality. This 
is the best 60s garage record I'v heard in decades, and the 
bongo solo on “Rey de Tablistas alone makes this Spanish 
band superstars in my damaged mind. 


Wax Cannon “someone in Madison is praying for you (and 
it's not me)” (Commart 21 N. Johnson IC, 1A 52245) A 
double CD of working class, straighforward indie rock that 
takes chunky, chugging post-punk cues, but then keeps them 
all in line with solid, lyric-driven songwriting. Oddly, there is 
only a total of 75 minutes or so on this, so they could have cut 
‘one or two songs and made this a single CD, but I guess they 
had so much to saythattheycouldn’t hold back a note. 


Wax On Radio “Exposition” (Downtown) Insurgent Prog. 


Wednesday 13 “Fang Bang” (Ryko) Why can’t horror 
rockers have babies? Because they have hallow weenies! Just 
joking, this guy obviously has an awesome dick. 


Ween “Shinola Vol. 1" (Chocodog) Ween's regular albums 
are so sonically diverse and bizarre that for them to release an 
album of archival stuff too obscure or weird to have been on 
previous albums is a challenge to adventurous listenrs that | 
know you will rise to, The best soul, folk, indie, electronic, 
rock, pop, freak music album of the year. 


Westside Daredevils “twilight children” 
(westsidedaredevils.com) Should be called the BESTside 
AWESOMEdevils. 5 
Wetton - Downs “Icon” DVD (Locomotive) Alas members 
of Asia, I think the moment of heat has passed. 


Whirlwind Heat “Types of Wood” (Brille) Te-RIFF-ic art 
rock that rocked and arted. 


Whitestarr “Luv Machine” (Contango 302-A West 12" St. 
#115 NYC 10014) Despite actually being dumb, drug-addled 
Southerners, | always found there to be something profoundly 
dishonest about the Black Crowes. Thus, I’m not particularly 
impressed by this Black Crowes-redux band. That said, like 
their Crowe-gods, this act has the amazing ability to filter 
classic rock sounds so classically that each song sounds like 
you've grooved to that particular jam a zillion times, even on 
the first listen. 


EEEEEEEEOOOOeS OO 











Whitmore and Hoyston “Hallways of Always” (Southern, 
southern.com) While musically this is a fine slice of country 
and western dueting, the names just doesn’t zing. Porter and 
Dolly, Jones and Wynette, Johnny and June, now those sound 
great. | guess Whitley and Morgan sounds similarly awkward, 
but they never were billed that way, only did a few duets, and 
he died. | hope neither of these folks die. Jenny Hoyston 
erases thoughts of Erase Errata with these fine croonings, and 
though I’m not exactly sure who William Whitmore is, I like 
him (as demonstrated by my wish he would not die). 


Andre Williams with the Diplomats of Solid Sound 
“Aphrodisiac” (Pravda pob 268043 Chicago IL 60626) Andre 
Williams is a phenomenal talent; one of the all time great r&b 
songcrafters. I’m so happy that the last few years have 
provided him with an actual paying audience, but I have had 
mixed feelings about the development of a crowd that seems 
to just want to hear an old black man curse and be nasty. 
Williams is no Wesley Willis novelty act, and is way more 
gifted an artist than Dolemite. Most of his recorded material 
has risen above pandering to the LCD with the do-re-mi, but 
some releases (his live album a little while back) didn’t, and 
you never knew if Andre would ever get back to just solid, 
awesome songwriting. Well, he did. This is the best thing he’s 
done in recent memory, as he is bluesy but not sleazy, 
naughty but not nasty, and raw but not XXX-brown paper 
bag-hide this from the children-raw. Hid damaged, distinctive 
voice sounds like it’s aged to perfection here, and the gravelly 
delivery of his genuinely clever lyrics is spot on. If you are an 
exoticizing European, or a minstrel-show loving frat boy, or a 
slumming punk fan who thinks of Andre as a crazy dirty old 
man novelty act, shake your tail feather to this CD and you'll 
get a bigger picture, 





Bet Williams “Bet” (Sliced Bread POB 606 Blue Bell PA 
19422) 1 BET you wont hear a better, more passionate voice 
than Bet’s anytime soon. 


The Willis “bathtub, lightbulb, heaertattack” (DPG POB 3690 
Mpls, MN 55403) Should be called the Thrillis, because this 
strange, cheesehead, occasionally synth and/or organ-tinged 
pop rock thrilled me! 


“Winnipeg Riot!” (Dionysus) A dozen and a half arctic 
garage punk blasts winners from Winni-ville. The best bands 
are and the savagely sexy-voiced American Flame Whip. The 
no-fi robot rock of Turnball AC’s, and an act called Hot Live 
Guys (of course I like them). Greatcover art (and curating) by 
Roctober’s own King Merinuk. 


Wires on Fire (Buddyhead POB 1268 Hollywood CA 90078) 
Nasty, intense rock that sounds like extreme indie punk, but 
when you listen closer you can hear lifts from surf, metal, 
math, and college rock. Does not sound like Wire. Or Earth 
Wind and Fire. 


Wizardzz “Hidden City of Taurmond (Load) Intergalactic 
thythm explosions that bring to mind the sexy green girls on 
Star Trek and the Death Star blowing up and that nightmare 
about taking a Trigonometry exam in your underpants. 


Whitney Wolanin “Funkology XIII" (Topnotch) Whitney 
seems to have a really strong voice, and I hope she is 
successful in the industry eventually, but when you have 
clunky production a Motown-style (and Motown cover) CD is 
a bad, sub-Karaoke idea. 


Wolf Eyes “Human Anima;"(Sub Pop) What initially starts 
out as a CD so mellow it sounds like the smooth jazz side of 
noise rock eventually builds to a cacophony of densely 
layered audio so intense that is fries cerebellums yet so 
pristine that every boom, blurgh, whoooowww, 2zzzz and 
ahhhryoodogiesmy Seems to have been intricately placed like 
a Jenga piece. Awooooo! 


Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew comic (SLG, 
slavelabor.com) The only great comic in SLG’s Disney line. 
This is pretty amazing as it is a beautiful, rich, flowing 
reinterpretation of the classic Alice in Wonderland animation 
designs, telling a story of post-Alice fallout (the Queen wants 
to behead the White Rabbit for treason, but his obsessive maid 
(our Alice stand-in) has something to say about it. I'd like to 
think Disney was being progressive and appreciative of 
artistic expression by allowing such creative license with the 
ir properties, but alas, | suspect they just (accurately) consider 
comics so inconsequential that they don’t care. 


Wonkavision magazine (POB 63680 Philadelphia PA 19147) 
This is now officially the slickest looking zine ever, but it 


surprisingly is actually better and has more soul than when it 
looked more like a zine. 


Cindy Woolf “Simple and Few” (MayApple) That's what I 
call singing! 


World Inferno Friendship Society “red-eyed soul” 
(Chunksaah POB 977 Asbury Park NJ 07712) The world's 
wildest punk-estra combines the elegant debauchery of a 
bygone Berlin cabaret with the venereal disease-ridden 
decadence of a low budget carnival. And it’s fun! 


World War IX “When A Good Time Turns to Shit” 
comic/CS, “Panic Attack” CD, Last in Line for the gang 
Bang: The G.G. Allin Story comic (Elis Eil) Lower East Side 
punk that's as stupid and rocking as anything in CBGB’s 
abandoned gutter. And just in case you had any doubts that 
these guys LOVED being in a band and playing gloriously 
dumb punk rock, guitarist Justin did a comic book where he 
recounts the delights of playing scummy Bowery dives 
without any irony or weariness...this dude is never happier 
than when he is rocking in a loser bar! This is further detailed 
in the tragic G.G. comic which starts as a somewhat goofy 
biography then gets ugly because the GG. Allin estate is 
insane, then ends with Justin deciding to abandon being a 
superfan and becoming a punk rocker proper with a guitar 
and a dream as he lives his punk life on stage instead of in the 
pit. G.G. inspires us in so many ways! 


Wrecking Crew “Balance of Terror” (I Scream) Mid-80s 
boston hardcore is known for two things: the crossover (the 
punk metal hybrid) direction of Gang Green and hockeycore. 
Though they avoided the pucks, Wrecking Crew (named after 
an Adolescents song | assume) were definitely influenced by 
the former, and their album “Balance of Terror,” recently 
reissued is recorded with that big, mighty Metal sound, and 
even has occasional blasts of shred solos. But it’s also young, 
nasty and inept in a way that makes it have classic punk 


appeal. 


Wrecking Crew “Static Dream” (Finger) | first I thought this 
might be the same Wrecking Crew as the Boston boys, but 
unless they got younger since 1989 I think this is a teenage 
band that draws on some trashy pure punk influences (Stooges 
and Dolls as well as °77 punk and garage trash) to make some 
awesome noise. 








Goat's hunger cverrides aity Nope in improving 
his computer gaming Skils, 

X Ray OK “like life” (xrayok.com) This made me dance a 
hole is my left shoe. 





Mykal Xul “Gizmo My Way” “Unsung Anthems of Ken 
Highland and The Gizmos” (Gulcher) Gizmo songs sounding 
like Weird Al covering “Rock Around the Clock.” 


Yea Big “The Wind That Blows the Robots Arms” (Jib POB 
220426 Chicago IL 60622) Dance music for tired androids. 


116 


Year Future “First World Fever” (GSL pob 65091 LA, CA 
90065) Intense innovative hardcore-esque punk that screams 
for a revolution and brings some serious musical drama. 


Yellow Swans “Psychic Secession” (Load) The quietest noise 
band in the universe. 


Stephen Yerkey “metaneonatureboy” (Echo) One word: 
GENIUS! Wait, one more word: GENIUSER! 


Zandosis “George W. Bush go straight to fucking hell” 
(Stickfigure) Thirtyfour short noise-grind-death-chaos- 
blammo blasts proceded by the bandleader announcing titles 
like “Paul Wolfowitz boiled alive in his own urine,” Rush 
Limbaugh sodomized by a 30-pound Cuban cigar,” “Paul 
Brenner at the end of Lyndie English’s leash,” and (of course) 
the timeless title track. Perhaps the best political protest 
album of all time. 





Zelienope “ink” (Loose Thread pob 220180 Chicago, IL 
60622) Drone-tastic! 


Zisk zine (801 Eagles Ridge Road Brewster NY 10509, 
ziskmagazine.blogspot.com) I may not be able to spot a balk 
or remember exactly when the infield fly rule is in effect but I 
can spot an awesome kick ass basebal! zine and remember to 
never miss it! 


Zolar X (Live, Subterranean, Chicago, Planet Earth) A few 
years ago, I met a real good cat named Billy Gray. As a teen, 
he played Bud (bu-uh-d!) on Father Knows Best, but, before 
that, he was a child star in one of the greatest Sci-Fi classics 
ever made, The Day The Earth Stood Still, still a powerful 
warning against the re-emerging Arms Race. | asked Gray 
what it was like being in such an important film while still a 
young child. He told me that he had to grow into 
understanding what kind of statement this film had really 
made, but, once he understood it, he really felt like he was 
part of something huge. Likewise, when Zolar-X descended 
upon an unsuspecting L.A. in the early 70s, theirs was a 
mission of peace, to save the Earth from it's own destructive 
tendencies. Their otherworldly appearance incurred the wrath 
of various spacists, but the Earth women understood...It's 
quite possible some of them bore space children, earthlike in 
appearance, but sexually ambiguous (think about it. The Redd 
Kross guys aren't THAT old). Either way, just like Day: The 
Earth Stood Still, Zolar-X would go on to become bigger in 
terms of influence, if not record sales (their spacecraft was 
docked indefinitely in California, and their one record is so 
Tare now, it practically doesn’t exist). A Zolar-X reunion 
seemed even less likely than a monks reunion did, but, in the 
realm of Rock ‘n' Roll, one law stands eternal; Never say 
never. The revamped Zolar-X (please see the fascinating, 
though incredibly sad, tale of former lead singer, Zory Zenith, 
in Roctober # 41) descended upon Hipsterville (target: Wicker 
Park, Chicago) in modified, less colorful versions of their 
original stage attire, with bodysuits straight out of a 1940's 
Republic serial, but their wigged-out eyebrows and greenish- 
blonde Spock ‘do's intact (original guitarist, and now, vocalist. 
Ygarr Ygarrist, still sporting antennae, more than vaguely 
resembles Leonard Nimoy today). Speaking in their native, 
outer space tongue, one quickly got the impression that the 
band's intent was to be taken just as seriously as before, 
though they later felt comfortable enough to revert to a 
“Normal Guy" Californiaspeak, and spread the mantra of fun 
and the joy of Rock ‘n’ Roll to the already initiated and the 
merely curious. That was the message all along, that if 
different nations could be made to stop fighting just as 
different factions of Rock fans could be (anyone who was at 
the fiasco that befell an otherwise great show by The Weirdos 
at the same venue should note that several of the same folks 
were at this show, but, this time, people were actually dancing 
instead of turning the entire floor into one big. sprawling 
moshpit), maybe Earth's leaders “and their tiny minds- 
Stupid! Stupid!” (Plan 9 From Outer Space) would lay down 
their weapons of war, or face total “ee-ni-hil-ation” (Jack 
Starr, "Masters of The Sky"). Drummer, Eon Flash, had to be 
the most enthusiastic percussionist I'd ever seen, using his 
whole body to jet propel each beat, sometimes with timpani 
sticks, and often standing up and literally throwing himself 
back with each strike at the skins, smiling all the while. New 
member, Jett Starr, sent interstellar messages from his 
Danelectro bass to Earthlings nearing metamorphosis (and 
Glenn Danzig said HE turned into a Martian!) as they were 
drawn deeper into the hypnotic force field, perhaps created by 
Robot Monster or The Brain From Planet Arous. The music 
itself, well, it's a little hard to describe. It's Hard Rock, 
basically, but it goes in way too many directions to be called 
just that. It's got an “Alien” bent, influenced, no doubt, by 





Earth Sci-Fi movies and TV shows, but, it's not pure “Space 
Rock" like Hawkwind or Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come, 
though it approaches such lunarcy without trying. At times it 
resembles punk, at times it sounds a bit like UFO (the band 
and the spacecraft), or a more high concept version of the 
Glam scene they infiltrated in the 70s. The band was tight, 
professional and very focused, like they knew their time on 
Earth could be short, but, judging from the tremendous 
response they received (THREE encores! That does NOT 
happen in Chicago, friends), The Men Who Fell To Earth 
aren't going anywhere but, hopefully, your town, to put their 
rayguns (o your heads, and set the controls for the heart of the 
sun, til you freak out in a moonage daydream, oh, 
yeah,..cosmic jive from about '75 like "Rocket Roll" and 
“Timeless” made the space scene with several, outstanding, 
new numbers. As a matter of fact, the set was comprised 
almost entirely of new numbers, which could put your band in 
jail if you're on the reunion trail, but Zolar-X can never fail! It 
was definitely the show of the year, up to that point, with only 
the Summer appearance by former card-carrying Martian, 
Roky Erickson, taking away the #1 slot. Several people told 
me it was the best show they've ever seen. It was like 
something I'd never heard before, but should have. Earthmen 
and Space Aliens rejoiced over beers together when it was all 
said and done... Klaatu Barrada Nikto, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! 


Zoms Zoms “Yellow Rainbow” (Omega Point) Always the 
newest New Wave, electronicest electronic, funnest funtime 
band in this galaxy, the Zommers have taken it to the next 
level by cutting back on the bleeps and adding just the right 
amount of bloops. 


Zox “the wait” (Sideonedummy POB 2350 LA, CA 90078) 
The indie Dave Mathhews band. 


GUEST REVIEWER: 
(j.zanger@ gmail.com) 
Broadcast “The Future Crayon” (Warp Records, 
www.warprecords.com) Broadcast has always been criticized 
with the rider comment “...BUT they sound a lot like 
Stereolab.” The similarities are undeniable, too — tunneled 
female vocal harmonies akin to “60s folk group The Free 
Design, simple instrumentation from guitars/bass/drums, lots 
of knob turning and distortion, synth-centric experimenting, 
Parisian disposition, spacey/psychedelic feel. What should 
also be mentioned in criticism is that this group has a nouveau 
feel too, and that they are more artistic/avant garde in many 
ways than Stereolab. Broadcast has no problem straying off 
into an acid-y backdrop, or looping one hook for the length of 
an entire composition, as long as it feels right. The Future 
Crayon is an aural autobiography from non-full length catalog 
numbers, collecting 18 tracks from eight different releases of 
this description: The releases span 1996 to 2003 and are 
amazingly consistent, coming from Extended Play (2000), 
Extended Play (2 (2000), Pendulum EP (2003), Come On 
Let's Go 7” single (2000), We Are Reasonable People (1998), 
Come On Let's Go (2000), All Tomorrow's Parties 01 (2001), 
and Echo's Answer (1999). After hearing tracks like “Poem of 
Dead Song” or “Hammer Without a Master" you can see that 
maybe this whole comparison is all wrong; maybe Stereolab 
sound a lot like Broadcast. The latter song (“Hammer”) is a 
perfect example of the group's extensional improvisation, 
psychedelic vamping. The former (“Poem™) is more of a 
Parisian indie pop rock tune, with underlining electric guitar 
and beautifully sublime choral melody. Over most of The 
Future Crayon you have to listen closely for the intimate 
details that make this group their own entity. Le., Ringing 
feedback in “Chord Simple”, clicking reverb of “Locusts”, 
distant piano. electronic programming bleeps and drums cuts 
heard throughout “Dave's Dream” and “DDL.” None of these 
elements hit you in the face, rather they slowly seep into your 
brain and fill your imaginative, cultured soul. Anyone looking 
for a quick summary on this artistic cult favorite will not find 
it here nor anywhere, so just move on. 


JOSH ZANGER 


Rhymefest “Blue Collar” (J Records/Allido Records) When I 
heard hip-hop emcee Rhymefest was performing at Chicago's 
Intonation Festival, | thought, OK another non indie rock 
group to keep the venue diverse. As buzz surrounding his 
latest release Blue Collar continued to mount | still thought, 
this is probably just really good promotion work by J Records, 
the label of Fest’s debut. Then I gave the album a listen and 
all my cynicism was quashed. Paired with listening to an 
interview that Rhymefest—real name Che Smith—did on 
Chicago Public Radio's Sound Opinions, this record has been 
vaulted into my short list of favorites. The theory of 
Chicago/Midwest being hardworking-but-overlooked has 
been around as long as New York and LA have been the 
bookend cities for entertainment culture in the US. Talking 





about the idea is nothing new, unless you do it like this MC 
does, wrapping it in deceptively clever words and inspired 
musical vision. As a precursor it is slightly important to know 
that Rhymefest was featured on Kanye West's “Jesus Walks”, 
but he is a practicing Muslim. Aaaanyyways...Part of Smith's 
vision is to be earnest and unashamed for what you believe in. 
On Sound Opinions his charisma was infectious and he 
explained that whatever you believe in is right, and is what 
should be the right answer. In the lead track of Blue Collar he 
rips, “Dime bag ass niggas ain’t large/ When the Patriot Act 
come hit they ass with the terrorist charge/ And we, is what 
they made it fo'/You think it’s all about Arabs? It's a war on 
the po’, we gotta go/ Like a killer or a man or a giant when he 
stand/ Open your palm bitch, we got the world in our hand.” 
On “Brand New” only a track later Rhymefest taps into his 
old pal Kanye and shows that he takes none of the deep stuff 
too personally. Here Fest shows that he can be just as clever 
when talking about politics as he is when he pokes fun at 
people he sees walking the street. “Some of y'all know you 
wear a 16, squeezin’ into a six/ Damn, what you make them 
jeans rip for?/ I guess she’s lookin’ for a brand new man who/ 
Ain't always gotta sit down ‘cause he can't stand you.” This 
is one of the album's simplest tracks but also hits heavy 
because of how infectious the melodies and sampled female 
voice of “brand new!” curls. All along the way there are gems 
in “All | Do", “Get Down”, “More”...shit, all of them — and 
this MC has great help along the way from producers Kanye 
West, Just Blaze, Animal House, No-ID, Emile and Cochise, 
Cool & Dre just as much as he has exceptional contributions 
from guest spots with Q-Tip, Kanye, Bump J, Mikkey, Mario, 
Mike Payne, Malik Yusek, and (somehow) O.D.B. From this 
recording you'd think that all the people involved have 
already or will go on to do great things, because of how well 
everything fits. One of the most astonishing factors of all, 
though, is Smith's awareness of all music as found in tracks 
like “Devil's Pie” and “Bullet” where he samples and 
collaborates with The Strokes (yeah! them) and Citizen Cope, 
respectively. Some of the work comes by the hand of 
producer Mark Ronson, who is known to many as a rock ‘n’ 
roll type of guy. Further, Rhymefest dodges any possible one- 
dimensional criticisms when he perfectly balances catchy pop 
R&B vocal and melody hooks (especially Mario's chorus line 
in “All Girls Cheat") with bangin’ hip-hop beatplay and some 
edgy scratches from the DJ. The whole deceptive element is 
even extended into the timbre of Fests heavy jowled voice, 
which is Biz Markie-sounding to some, as it cuts with 
dexterity/intensity and often with sharp things to say. Blue 
Collar is not only a strong candidate for year's best overall 
album, but it could also do well to stand the test of time, The 
hot tracks are hot, and if the language was a bit cleaner there 
would be six singles. But also Rhymefest’s debut is 
consistently excellent for the entire 16 tracks - even how 





spirited and tied-in the intro “Feel Free”. All this is achieved 
in the name of the most earnest of causes: home. And that's 
the best part of all 








entart#l: Gort wallons touch o lifetime Sentence 
of dead end menial labor upon awakening, Goat realizes 
he's just a Goat and has no further obligations. 
GUEST REVIEWER: BOHUS BLAHUT: 

William Sides Atari Party (No Sides POB 257491 Chicago 


117 





IL 60625) A few years back, brilliant programmer Paul 
Slocum created an Atari 2600 cartridge called "Synthcart", 
turning the classic console into a musical instrument. It's an 
awesome invention, especially if you're in love with early 
analog synths. “Atari Party" is a four song EP showcasing the 
sounds of Atari Synthcart. If you haven't played “Yar's 
Revenge" recently, you might have forgotten the range of 
sounds an Atari can pump out. Sides’ music breaks out of the 
video game music mold bringing the proto-industrial noise - 
at times melodic, but frequently too repetitive. The first three 
tracks hop around the Synthcart presets in a somewhat 
enjoyable way, but it doesn't feel like the EP gets started until 
the final lengthy (over 10 min.) track, "Don't Go See the 
Movie Alien Vs. Predator". Music created with old video 
game consoles as the primary sound source tend to emulate 
bleepy video in-game tunes, but Sides is truly using the Atari 
as a very basic but interesting electronic instrument. He's 
headed in the right direction with this release, but I'd still like 
to hear more variety - a larger number of shorter songs might 
be better next time around. Recommended if you've never 
heard 8-bit music before, enjoy industrial beats & hardcore 
techno with a twist, or are a remixér. 


GUEST REVIEWER: MADELINE BOCARO 
Iggy Pop “The Idiot” (A classic revisited) 

It’s certainly not music for a sunny day at the beach! It’s 
neither for dancing, nor partying but for driving on a rainy 
night alone in your car, it’s the perfect soundtrack. For 
someone contemplating suicide, it might be dangerous. It was 
on the turntable of Joy Division's lan Curtis when he 
voluntarily checked out. The Idiot is pure genius. How Iggy 
Pop and David Bowie arrived at this glorious sonic 
abomination in 1977 at the height of the Punk vs. Disco era is 
one of the great anomalies of musical history, What 
instruments did they use to make it? Guitars, sax, keyboards 
and one of the earliest synthesizers - on loan from Brian Eno 
(also used on Bowie's Low sessions,) - the EMS AKS 
briefcase model, Eno himself gave the album an ‘oblique’ 
complement, “It's an experience akin to being encased in 
concrete.” The Idiot sounds like nothing of this earth, yet it is 
the soundtrack of many lives. It is neither black nor white. It 
is completely gray. A warped, disturbing dream of wartime 
cabarets, factories, smokestacks, East Berlin, Metropolis, 
Oedipus Rex. It is murky and dreary, haunting, eerie and 
beautiful. When most early synths were being utilized to 
create mindless Euro disco, Bowie and Pop rightly wrestled 
those sounds into submission. Only Bowie could have slowed 
Iggy down to this numbing and anomalous pace. The album 
is admittedly influenced by the sounds of industrialism in 
Iggy's home town of Detroit. We hear the buzz of mass 
production, the drone, clang and repetition of machinery - 
metal on metal. It’s relentless, Germanic, anesthetic, 
hypnotic...hypodermic! On “Sister Midnight” Iggy has the 
dream to end all dreams. Wham bam, thank you MOM!! Oh 
no — daddy's after me with his six-gun! “What can I do about 
my dreams?!" “Nightclubbing” is the dance of the dead, 
romantically slow-dancing the ‘Nuclear Bomb’. “Funtime” is 
“No Fun” in disguise. It’s Iggy's zombified version of 
“Monster Mash”. He's down in the lab with Dracula and his 
crew. Some great screams and visceral growls on this one! It 
gradually gets you into a ghoulish groove. Most probably it 
was Bowie who turned Iggy’s ode to heroin into a love song 
to an Asian heroine. He turned his Chinese rock into a “China 
Girl”, but the ‘orientation’ remained the same! Iggy's a mess 
without ‘her’. The ‘toy’ xylophone adds sweetness to the 
brooding tune. Bowie's simple sax on “Tiny Girls” is 
innocently beautiful, adding a touch of warmth to the robotic 
opus. The musicians borrowed from Bowie's Low sessions 
enfold you in a trance, along with Iggy’s ghostly / ghastly 
crooning vocals. It is seldom that anyone pays respect to 
former band members in a song (they're usually happy to be 
rid of each other). On his ode to the Stooges, “Dum Dum 
Boys,” Iggy pines, ‘Where are you now when I need your 
noise?’ It was inevitable that the surviving members would 
reunite, and how joyous it was in 2003 when the Asheton 
brothers toured 


GUEST REVIEWER: GENTLEMAN JOHN BATTLES: 
Fifth Annual Ponderosa Stomp, May 8-19, 2006, Gibson 
Guitar Factory, Memphis. 

A first for me to make it to The Stomp, and a first for them to. 
hold it in Memphis, as the previous location, The Rock ‘n’ 
Bow! in New Orleans, was destroyed by that crazy bitch, 
Katrina. This year's fest was a benefit for musicians displaced 
or in financial trouble as a result of the hurricane. Personally, 
I hope they carry on holding it at the Gibson Factory, the 
perfect facility for such a festival (even if the food was 
godawful). Needless to say, I didn’t see it ALL, tho’ I was one 
of the first to arrive and the last to leave each day. Even our 











friend, Mike "I saw 156 bands at SXSW!" Miller would have 
failed at THAT task...OK, HERE GOES: 

Michael Hurtt and The Haunted Hearts: Real, RAW 
Country as Not heard in Nashville. Deke Dickerson: Has he 
EVER given a bad show? Joe Clay: Still a wildman, puts 
‘Billy boys one third his age to shame. Hopefully, he'll appear 
again, with Mickey Baker in tow. Roy Head: ON FIRE, I say. 
A Garage Punk set with Deke (who played with almost 
EVERYONE), “You're (Almost) Tuff” not on the bill of fare, 
alas, but a pretty Psychin' "Easy Lovin’ Girl" made the scene. 
Later, Roy did a "Texas ballroom” set with special guest, 
Buckwheat Zydeco, on the Hammond B3, Too much! Syl 
Johnson; | think I saw, briefly. It all gets hazy. (editor's note. 
Sy was amazing, playing with the Hi Rhythm Section and 
delivering inspiring sermons agaoinst Syl Johnson 
bootleggers, and non-rpyalty paying samplers (are you 
listening Michael Jackson?) 1 missed Archie Bell, rated by 
my friends as the best of previous fests, Dennis Coffey: 
Blazed with a strong set of Psych/Funk guitar, comparable to 
Lou Reed at his speedfreakinest. Bad Roads: Well, they 
PLAYED great, but relied too heavy on VERY obvious 
covers...still, "Too Bad" and "Blue Girl" sounded cool. 
Harvey Scales: Well, my musical A.D.D. was kickin’ in by 
then. Two minute and fifty second songs shouldn't take ten 
minutes to get off the ground, sorry. B.B.Cunningham: B.B. 
(of The Hombres and Jerry Lee's Memphis Beats) did a very 
cool set, aided by James Burton. Besides “Let It All Hang 
Out,” his earlier rocker, "Trip To Bandstand" was a standout 
in his set. The Alarm Clocks: These original teen Garage 
Punks from Parma, Ohio, are back and ready for action! Be 
afraid, be very, very afraid. Best Garage set of the fest, 
barring possibly the mighty mighty Wailers. Actually, The 
Wailers just might have taken the whole damned thing, but, 
in a sea of so mush talent, who's to say? Scotty Moore: The 
legendary guitarist was scheduled to do two sets, but had to 
decline, due to recent shoulder surgery. He showed up 
anyway, and his two backing bands played sets without him, 
one of which featured Billy Swan and Boots Randolph, 
doing middle of the road covers of Blues standards. In the 
audience for the latter gig were Kenny Lovelace (Jerry Lee's 
guitarist and right hand man), Hubert Sumlin (of Howlin’ 
Wolf fame), Steve Cropper and even Jerry Lawler, who 
introduced the show. Bob Wooten and W.S. Holland: They 
played a riveting tribute to their former boss, Johnny Cash 
Steve Cropper, whom I was too nervous to introduce myself 
to, looked at me and said, “Ain't this fuckin’ GREAT, man?!” 
and accosted one of his buddies for trying to walk out early. 
Johnny's tour bus was parked outside, too. Hayden 
Thompson: Only caught a little, but he's in great voice, and 
his long-overdue comeback is already underway. Other Sun 
alums included Eddie Bond, who did a great, short, 
Rockabilly set, aided by Deke and the great Travis Wammack 
(more on him later) and Sonny Burgess, with D.J. Fontana 
on drums, who was taking no prisoners. Jumpin’ Gene 
Simmons didn't show, Ace Cannon: Like Boots Randolph, 
Ace is a great sax player, but a few songs is all you need. The 
Nightcaps, | sorely missed, but The Wailers took precedence 
over everything, including Arch Hall, Jr., whom I wanted to 
love, but it just was not his night. Kenny and The Kasuals: 
These Dallas Garage legends, delivered a tight, rockin’ set, 
composed mainly of the covers that appeared on their highly 
acclaimed "Live" album, and their own classic, “Journey to 
Tyme.” They sounded great, but I'd love to hear 'em pull more 
of their fine originals out of the bag. Bubba Feathers: Charlie 
Feathers’ son put on one of the greatest Rockabilly sets I've 
heard in eons, without cat clothes, pompadours, standup bass 
(a six-string yet! I never thought I'd be so glad to see one!) or 
tattoos (not that | remember), just a whole lot of honesty and 
“fillin’” as his daddy would say. Wanda Feathers, Bubba's 
sister, was brought on stage (against her wishes!) to sing a 
great duet of "Peepin’ Eyes.” Barbara Lynn: She wasn’t the 
fireball | saw in Green Bay, but there was a reason, her 
arthritis had her in a lot of pain and discomfort. Still, she 
soldiered on and insisted on playing some mean guitar despite 
the crowd imploring her to just sing, butn she felt a duty to 
play. Lady Bo: She LOOKED phenomenal, but her songs 
weren't that engaging (a rumored appearance by Bo Diddley, 
himself, never materialized).Missed Clarence "Frogman" 
Henry but, he wasn't doing it for me in Green Bay (editor's 
note: the Frogman was hilarious and inspiring, the New 
Orleans-ext moment of the fest, with Fats Domino's saxman 
Herb Hardesty backing him up). Heard William Bell was 
great (editor's note; you heard right). Travis Wammack: 
Proved to be one of the unquestioned highlights of the whole 
affair. The mantle of supreme guitar god, in Link Wray's 
passing, has been picked up by Wammack, no ifs, ands, buts, 
or maybes, and he sings as well as he plays! He matches 
Wray's aggression (or that of Dick Dale, before he went on 
auto pilot) with enough finesse to make something so difficult 





appear to not be so. Sleepy LaBeef: LaBeef did two killer 
sets, closing down the festival in grand fashion with the 
second. Matt Lucas: The Jerry Lee of the drums, put on a 
sleazy, strip club Rock ‘n’ Roll set (featuring the hit, "The 
Herpes Blues"-"Doctor says you got THE Herpes, but, at 
least, you ain't got THE Aids!!!), Holding this madness 
together were both Travis Wammack AND James Burton!!! 
James "Blood" Ulmer: Bloody awful. Jody Williams and 
Billy Boy Arnold: These former Diddley sidemen did a 
REAL Chicago Blues set, the likes of which you'll never 
HEAR in Chicago. Zakary Thaks: They were pretty much on 
the money, though my friends seemed to disagree. My only 
criticism is that guitarist John Lopez’ sound was a bit too 
“modern,” though he played great. The video I saw of them at 
last year's fest sounded grittier, but, | met Lopez briefly, and 
he told me he wasn't happy with the amp sound. Still, they 
did all their best songs, and sounded particularly good on the 
Psychedelic stuff. They even did "(I've Got) Levitation" and 
"You're Gonna Miss Me" by The 13th Floor Elevators, while 
their peers were doing "Gloria" and Stones songs throughout 
he festival. It's all in fun, anyway, and some of us were still 
having fun, like the hot little number in the pink go-go skirt 
who jumped on stage and went wild during “Bad Girl.” 
Warren Storm” Possibly the template for Ned Flanders, 
Storm did his usual, fine, N’orlinz Swamp Pop set, but backed 
by a horrendous Metal/Blues/whatthefuck band (kinda like 
how Jake LaBotz sounded in Ghost World, only worse). Herb 
Remington, Bob Wills’ former steel guitar player, proved he 
hasn't missed a lick (the latter day Texas Playboys, by the 
way, are nothing short of deep-fried manna from Heaven) 
The Rockabilly Country Band: Featuring "“Smoochy” 
Smith, former star of The Sun Rhythm Section and various 
PG-rated Party Records, this combo put on a restrained, but 
cool, set. It turns out they began life as the late, great, Paul 
Burlison's last backing band. Paul's name came up frequently 
during the festival, always with reverence and a great deal of 
emotion. Little Freddie King: Not bad, but not up to the hype 
that I'd heard. I, unfortunately, missed Chick Willis, but, 1 
like all three versions of "Stoop Down, Baby" that I own. 
House band (for the Blues artists), Little Buck and The 
Topcats laid down the kind of Blues that's also nearly extinct 
here in "The Home of The Blues.” I don't want to disrupt the 
tourist trade, but, maybe the Japanese tourists should opt to go 
to this event instead of Chicago (at least, until we can produce 
a festival that's at all comparable to this one). | missed ex-68 
Comeback and Impala bassist, Scott Bomar's, band, The Bo- 
Keys, and also missed Jeffrey Evans and Ross Johnson's 
free set at Shangri-La (editor's note: a howlarious and 
rocking set). Jeff, it should be noted, drove many of the artists 
to and from the airport, missing much of the festival in the 
process, While that was a drag, he said, he forged many 
friendships in so doing. I had some dynamite barbecue at 
Rendezvous, located not too far the venue (there's nothing in 
walking distance but Beale St., where you'd have to wait an 
hour for yuppie fare that's probably not available as take out), 
Modern day exploitation film auteur, J. Michael McCarthey, 
busted my balls, as did much of the Chicago contingent, for 
not going to the corner of switchblade and crackpipe for my 
‘cue. I was staying almost an hour away, and my time was not 
my own, and unlike them, I didn’t have a guide that knew 
every nook and cranny of Memphis, a place I'd only been to 
once. Want me to DO the same ‘CUE as YOU? Ask me to 
join you, next time. 


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